Until Dawn
by ReconditeAgony
Summary: A simple trip to bring in closure goes wrong when something lurks into the woods. Nine teenagers are now left to try to survive the night, one teenager may bring great help to the others' survival while also surviving alone. Can the teenagers survive until dawn?
1. Prologue

*Third Person POV*

The dark and wintery night casted above Mount Washington into Blackwood Mountain.

The snow had already touched the ground while more snow was falling and it felt endless.

The darkness was quite too great to make out what places could be seen in Blackwood Pines except for one cabin mansion. It was known to be as the Washington Estate.

Inside of the estate stood two girls who were looking outside of the window, looking as if they were trying to see if anyone was here besides themselves.

The first girl standing there was tall with a rather tan skin complexion. She had straight dark brown hair with bangs in front of her forehead and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a grey knitted sweater, a white knitted beanie, dark grey yoga pants and cream colored boots along with a black watch she wore on her wrist.

The second girl standing next to her was shorter, quite petite in height. She had a lighter tan in skin complexion that looked almost pale. She had wavy black hair with dark blue streaks and had blue eyes. She was wearing a black casual parka jacket over a dark blue V-neck top. She also had dark blue yoga pants and black Dr. Marten's boots.

The two girls briefly turned to each other then turned back to the window and continued to look out.

Out in the cold, the wind continued to blow when a tall figure appeared with possibly a machete in his hand.

Inside of the estate, there stood three girls and a young man standing by the bar.

One girl, a blonde-haired girl with pig tails was putting down a note on the bar table. The young man was scratching his head, another girl, a dark haired- girl looked quite surprised and another girl, another blonde-haired girl with her hair in a classic bun looked rather not pleased.

"Oh my god!" the dark haired-girl gasped, almost giggling. "I can't believe you actually did this.

The pig tailed blonde-haired girl was almost smiling at her.

"Shh...shh...shh!" she hushed her.

The blonde-haired girl with the bun shook her head in disapproval.

"Don't you guys think this is a little bit cruel?" she asked.

"Come on, she deserves it," the pig tail blonde-haired girl replied looking rather excited.

"But it's not her fault that she has a huge crush on Mike," the other blonde-haired girl with the bun protested.

"Hannah's been making moves on him," the pig tailed blonde-haired girl said with a smirk. "I'm just looking out for my girl Em."

They journeyed out of the kitchen and went into a hall, leaving the two girls and two young men who were passed out from drinking too much.

"Just because he's class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone," the dark-haired girl said, pointing to the tall, dark-haired young man next to her. "Mike is my man."

The dark-haired young man shook his head.

"Hey Em," he said to the dark-haired girl. "I'm not anybody's man."

Em giggled briefly before she spoke again.

"Whatever you say darling," she said with a smile.

The blonde-haired girl with a bun strayed behind, looking completely skeptical about what they were planning. She immediately went to walk upstairs while the other three went down the hall and behind them were another dark-haired young man and a red-haired girl.

The blonde-haired girl with a bun opened a door that led to a hall then stood there as if she were waiting for something. She was worried about what would happen but she had to comply with the other girls and the dark-haired young man.

"Hannah!" she called as she stood still, waiting for the arrival of Hannah.

In a guest bedroom, everyone except for the first dark-haired young man who stood there patiently, were hiding in certain places.

"You got this Mike," Em said, nodding to the young man while she was hiding under the bed.

Mike nodded back to her as he waited for someone to come see him.

"Watch this get real, Ash," the pig tailed blonde-haired girl giggled to the red-haired girl.

"Oh my," Ash giggled. "Jess, you're so done."

She turned to the other dark-haired young man next to her in the closet who was holding a selfie stick with a camera in place.

"And so are you Matt," she giggled.

"Wow Ash," Matt said, almost laughing as he prepared the camera for the event that he would have to record.

"Shh!" Jess hushed down everyone as she hid under the bed. "She's here!"

Out of the guest room, there came a dark brown-haired girl holding a candle that was lit down the hall.

"Mike?" she called quietly.

She continued down the hall then opened the door to the guest room and saw the man she had a huge crush on standing there as if he were waiting for her.

"Mike?" she said as she closed the door behind her. "It's Hannah."

"Hey Hannah," Mike smiled at her as he prepared to pull something onto Hannah that he didn't imagine ever doing.

Back in the kitchen, the dark brown-haired girl and the black and blue-haired girl continued looking outside of the window of the estate.

Out in the snow, a tall figure with a bandana covering his mouth and what it appeared to be goggles covering his eyes walked past the lodge as if he were looking for something.

In the estate, both girls looked confused, unsure why they saw a mysterious man outside.

"Guys?" the dark brown-haired girl asked. "Did you see that? Dad said it'd just be us this weekend."

She turned away from the window and stayed still for a while.

"Josh?" she called.

She turned to black and blue-haired girl who looked rather shocked.

"Did you see who was out there Imi?" she asked.

Imi seemed shocked by what she had seen outside of the window.

"Yes I did, Beth," she replied to her friend rather nervously. "I wonder if he's probably checking on something."

Beth nodded in agreement as she took a few moments to look around before taking a step into the mansion.

*Beth's POV*

I walked around the lodge, trying to see if I could find anything interesting.

I briefly turned to my best friend Imi who seemed rather surprised.

"These two will sure be having a good nap," she joked, pointing at our friend Chris and my brother Josh who were sleeping.

"Yes indeed," I laughed before proceeding to find anything.

My eyes fell upon a bottle next to Josh on the bar table. It appeared to be a beer bottle.

I walked to the bar table next to Josh and picked up the bottle to examine it. The brand read Jeremiah Craig. I smiled before I turned to my sleeping brother.

"Once again brother, you've outdone us all," I joked as I shook Josh but I only heard a moan from him.

I smiled again and turned to Imi who too was quietly giggling.

"Hey Imi," I said, almost giggling. "Ever since you and Josh had met, you two should totally get together, like date each other or something. You two would be cute together."

Imi giggled more shyly than before, probably uncertain about what I had said.

"I'm not so sure," she replied rather shyly. "Of course he and I are really good friends but to be honest, I doubt he feels something more for me."

I gave her a little shove on the elbow as a sign to tell her to snap out of it and she laughed quietly. She and I were best friends ever since we were pretty much babies, or really when I was 2 and Imi was 1.

She even met my sister Hannah and my brother Josh too. Hannah and I were like older sisters to her while Josh was like her older brother.

Little known to Imi but only Hannah and I knew that Josh actually had a crush on her and still does. In my mind, I could just imagine my big brother and my best friend being a couple. Even my parents who knew the Harmonys for their entire lives even think that Josh and Imi would make one hell of a cute couple.

Despite what I had kept telling Imi, she always seemed to think that Josh was nothing more than just a friend to her.

"I won't bug you over that for a while," I laughed before I tried to find anything interesting.

I suddenly noticed a sheet of paper on the bar table. I went to go take a look at it and gasped in shock at the note that was written.

 _Hannah,_  
 _You look so damn in that shirt but I bet you're even hotter out of it._  
 _Come to the guest room at 2:00 am. ;-)_  
 _Mike xxx_

I couldn't believe what I had just read. This has to be some kind of cruel set up. I shook my head.

"Oh my god," I gasped. "What has our naïve sister got herself into now?"

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Imi's eyes seemed to show a hint of concern.

"What's wrong Beth?" she asked.

"You need to read this," I insisted.

She walked to myself as I held the note to her. Her eyes went wide from possible shock and a hint of horror. I could see that she too was concerned for Hannah.

"This has to be a prank," Imi said, shaking her head in disbelief. "That honestly can't be Mike's handwriting. It doesn't even look like his hand writing."

Maybe Imi had been looking a bit too much into our handwriting sand analyzing them but she had a point. This had to be a serious and messed up set up and we were going to tell whoever came up with this to pay for what they had done.

"We need to find Hannah right now," Imi said nervously. "I don't like this."

She had a point but in the back of my mind, I already knew it was too late. I turned to her with a sad expression on my face. Her face crumpled but nodded at what my expression told her.

*Third Person POV*

Back in the guest room, Hannah and Mike stood there in anticipation for something between the two of them to happen.

"I got your note," Hannah acknowledged Mike.

He nodded then gave a smirk before he decided to go for what he was about to do.

"Maybe we should start with a little, know, making out, and see where it goes from there," he suggested.

Hannah nodded then tried to find where to start in the process. She immediately felt her hands touch her dark brown blouse and decided to do something she had not done in front of her crush.

"Oh hell yeah," Mike smirked, enjoying what he was about to see.

Hannah continued to unborn her blouse while Mike watched with interest.

"She's taking her shirt off!" Jess whispered, laughing quietly in interest.

Hannah however heard the source of the voice and held up her shirt to cover up her cleavage in embarrassment.

"What?" she gasped. "Oh my god!"

She suddenly saw Matt pop up from his hiding place who was still holding the selfie stick with the camera on top.

"Matt?" she wondered, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Mike was scratching his head awkwardly, now unsure of what to do now that everyone else that was watching were exposed.

The door suddenly opened and in came in the blonde-haired girl with a bun to see an embarrassed Hannah.

"Hannah," she said to Hannah. "Hannah hey."

"I'm sorry Hannah," Mike apologized.

"Mike!" Hannah shook her head before running out of the guest room.

"It was just a stupid prank," the blonde-haired girl said.

She turned to the others who were suddenly shocked by the turn of events.

"Sam, we were just messing around," Jess interjected.

"Uh... damn!" Mike muttered.

Sam shook her head in disapproval then gave everyone in the guest room a warning look on her face.

"You guys are jerks," she snapped. "You know that?"

She turned away from them then ran out to go find her best friend.

"Hannah?!" she called.

No answer was heard as everyone else in the guest room went to go follow Sam.

*Beth's POV*

After I put the note down, I suddenly saw a figure that was out in the snow that looked like they were crying?

"That has to be Hannah!" Imi cried.

I nodded in agreement but then I turned to Josh, now unsure if I should wake him up to tell him the news or to find the others.

"Let's just find the others," Imi suggested. "Josh is still in his sleeping slumber from drinking. He needs his time. We'll tell him later."

Imi always seems to make good points and I knew my options were minimal at this point.

"Good idea," I replied as I ran out of the kitchen with Imi behind me then we saw the others already walking outside.

What the hell was going on? Did they have something to do with Hannah?

"There's someone outside guys," I said, still unsure if the figure was actually Hannah even though Imi seemed to be certain that it was her. "What the hell...?"

"Hannah?" I heard someone call.

That had to be Sam. I wondered if she had any idea about what had happened.

I grabbed my coat and walked out, pushing Mike and Matt out of the way and Imi quietly followed me.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Where's my sister going?"

"It's fine," Jess tried to brush off whatever had happened. "She just can't take a joke."

"It was just a prank Han!" Em protested to the wilderness.

I shook my head in shock, now scared. Did they do something to make Hannah just leave?

"What did you do?" I asked, now angry.

"Are you for real?" Imi gasped, sounding furious.

"We were just messing around Beth," Mike tried to calm me down. "It wasn't serious."

I shook my head, now fuming over what they had done.

"You jerks!" I shouted before I ran off to go find my sister.

"Hannah?!" I called. "Hannah!"

*Imi's POV*

"So should we go after her?" Mike asked.

"You know, I think you're the last person she wants to see right now, Mike," Sam replied, shaking her head.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The note Beth had showed me made so much sense and the realization had hit me. Not just what happened but also who was responsible for making it happen.

"Jess?" I shouted, pushing her back hard, making her fall and land on her ass in the snow. "I knew you had something behind this!"

Jess got back up to her feet and wiped the snow off of her ass, looking surprised and shocked at what I was saying.

"You're really gonna push me?" she asked, looking offended.

"You hurt my friend!" I cried. "I can't believe what you have decided to do to her! Now it's my job to find her!"

I slapped her before turning away from my friends to find Hannah and Beth despite hearing a lot of protests. I was furious, disappointed and sad over the situation.

*Third Person POV*

"Jess?" Sam cried, turning to her. "It's all your fault for hurting Hannah. Now you've crossed Imi too."

She shook her head then shoved Mike rather hard. The only ones who had no knowledge about the prank were Josh and Chris and everyone outside looked at each other, wondering how to tell Chris and Josh.

*Beth's POV*

I ran out to the bitter cold, now in a pursuit to find my sister.

"Oh shit!" I shivered as I jumped over a log, dodged some obstacles and continued to run until I stopped at two different routes to head down.

I had two options to either take the stairs or to jump from the height. I decided to jump because I knew my sister was missing and I had to find her quickly.

I safely made the jump and continued to run until I stopped at two paths. The right side of the path seemed to be an eerie noise and the left path showed some footprints.

Before I could make my decision, I heard more footsteps. I turned behind me and there was Imi who then stopped to see me there.

"I thought you'd stay," I said with a smirk on my face between pants.

"I couldn't leave my best fiend," Imi panted. "We need to find Hannah."

I nodded to her and then decided that footsteps would be my option. Imi followed me but then we were stopped by some deer but I ran towards them, trying to get them to move out of the way to clear the path.

After that, something made us jump a bit.

"Oh gee! Fuck! Shit!" I gasped before leading the to try to find Hannah.

"Dammit Hannah," I whispered. "Where are you?"

"Hannah?" Imi called. "Hannah?!"

We suddenly stopped at another height for us to jump down. I let Imi jump down first because I knew she was quite the athletic one. I jumped down behind her then had an idea for a source of light.

I pulled out my cellphone bad unlocked it, letting it be my source of light.

"I hope we find her soon," Imi breathed between pants.

"Me too," I whispered, knowing how much of a caring friend she was.

We walked down the snowy trail, trying to find Hannah when a deer came across the path, practically scaring us. Nevertheless, we continued to walked down the path.

"Hello?" I called. "Hello?!"

No answer. I was scared, scared for Hannah and scared for my best friend behind me.

"Hannah?" Imi called.

No reply.

Suddenly, we heard something unusual, something that sounded like fire but I wasn't sure.

"What the hell was that?" I wondered to no one in particular.

Imi pushed a leaf of a plant out of the way and turned to me, nodding to me to tell me who is was.

"Hannah?" I asked when I saw Hannah sitting on a rock alone in the cold.

"Hello?" Hannah said, obviously sounding like she was crying.

"Oh Hannah," Imi sighed of relief as she gave Hannah a hug.

Hannah hugged her back as I came to her to hug her.

"Hannah you must be freezing," I said as I took off my coat to give it to Hannah. "Take my coat."

"I'm such an idiot," Hannah sobbed as she put on my coat. "I'm so dumb."

Imi shook her head rather sadly and looked at Hannah in the eyes.

"No," she insisted. "They were meanies."

We suddenly heard a screech that must have come from somewhere. We stopped dead in our tracks, unsure at first if we should stay or run.

"Hannah?" I gasped.

"Beth?" Imi shivered.

"Imi?" Hannah asked.

At this point, we had no choice but to run from whatever we were being chased from.

"Hannah!" I cried when I noticed that she tripped on the wooded ground.

Imi was already not terribly far ahead of us, being athletic as she was.

I quickly helped Hannah as we continued to run away from whatever we were being chased from.

Hannah and I suddenly stopped at a cliff while Imi strayed far from it.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" I gasped as I turned to face the snowy area, now unsure what to do.

I was sure that Hannah and I were doomed unless if Imi had to do something.

Imi looked to be in horror over what she was seeing.

"Don't do this!" she cried. "Please!"

Hannah and I backed up and Imi tried to come after us but something unknown threw Imi to a tree and she was there, unconscious.

I knew Hannah and I would be doomed at this point but that didn't matter at this point, if we had to do what it took to get away from whatever was chasing us.

"No!" I cried. "No! Shit! No!"

Hannah and I were itching closer to the cliff while Imi remained laying on the ground, still unconscious.

"Get back!" I shouted.

I knew it would happen at some point but not this soon.

"Fuck!" I cried. "No!"

Hannah didn't see what was behind us and fell off of the cliff and I screamed but managed to hold on to a branch. I was also holding on to Hannah's hand and my options were running out.

"Hold on!" I told Hannah. "Hold on!"

I turned to look up when I saw a hand of another human that looked like he was trying to help us or something? I didn't even know this person, not even close enough to trust him. Or should I trust him to help me up and I would have to lose Hannah in the process?

Immediately, my mind was made up. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the doom I would fall into and Hannah was coming with me.

I let go of the branch as we both fell. I heard something crack one second and then the next second, everything went completely white to the point that I was completely unaware of any happenings.

*Imi's POV*

I suddenly woke up when I heard a scream. I was starting to freak out, wondering where Hannah and Beth were.

"Hannah? Beth?" I called,

No reply and a lump in my throat was beginning to build up. This couldn't be happening. Not right now.

I was so focused on worrying about Hannah and Beth when I suddenly noticed that my back was hurting.

"Oh crap," I gasped at the pain.

I slowly got back to my feet and was able to walk normally but the pain in my back was being a pain in the ass.

The last thing I remembered before slipping into brief unconsciousness was when a man threw me to a tree and my back hit it hard.

I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself from the situation that I was just in. Trying to find Hannah was a crazy enough mission but running away from what had followed us had done too much to traumatize me.

I was walking normally until I noticed yet more pain but this time on my ankle. Did I just hurt my ankle already?

"Dammit!" I whispered.

All I could do was try to limp my way back to the lodge but then I wasn't even sure if I would make it back. Already with a hurt back and now a hurt ankle too? This was definitely going to be a pain in the ass.

*Sam's POV*

I was beginning to panic. I had not heard from Hannah, Beth or Imi. None of them had returned and I was already fearing for the worst.

I suddenly heard footsteps. I turned and saw that Chris and Josh had woken up from their drunk slumbers.

"Sup Sam?" Chris asked.

"Hannah had ran off because some people pulled a horrible prank on her," I explained. "Beth then ran after her then Imi went to follow them."

Josh looked completely alert and scared. I could see why. His sisters had ran off as well as his crush.

I noticed him putting on his puffer jacket and his beanie and I shook my head at him.

"Josh, what are you doing?" I asked, not exactly pleased at what he would possibly do next.

"I'm going to find them," he said.

And without another word, he opened the door and ran out of the lodge, and closed the door and I scared that it might happen to him too.

"Let's just hope they make it back safe," Chris said in a rather sad tone.

I couldn't help but nod at him in agreement. What was this? Rescue mission intervention? I held on to hope that they would all make it back safe and sound.

*Josh's POV*

Already hearing about my sisters and Imi took off from Sam had me scared. I was determined to find them and bring them back to the lodge safe and sound.

I quickly made my way to the path and I knew the way because I had been here many times.

I didn't care if I was still a bit tipsy. My main concern was to get my sisters and my friend to come home safe.

I suddenly heard footsteps that sounded like they were getting closer. I was confused but I continued forward then stopped to see a figure limping?

I walked a bit closer and immediately recognized who it was.

"Oh Imi!" I cried, hugging her as she did the same to me.

I could see that Imi seemed to be hurt which had to explain her limping.

"Josh," she whispered. "I have to tell you something-"

"Save it for the lodge," I interrupted her. "You're hurt and you're freezing. And you're in no condition to be walking back to the lodge. Let me carry you."

I picked her up without much struggle. She was tiny, the only petite one in the group and it was cute. I remember when Chris, Mike and I would poke some fun at her for being the petite one in the group but I knew that she didn't mind.

I ran back to the lodge while carrying Imi and knew we were getting closer. After a while, I kinda banged my foot at the door, trying to get someone to let us in. Sam opened the door to let us in.

"Thanks Sam," I nodded to her.

She nodded back at me before I placed Imi on the couch.

"Okay," I nodded to Imi. "Tell me the story."

She got up from the couch and limped to the kitchen but I didn't know why.

"Guys, fetch me some stuff from the first aid kit, please?" I instructed to my friends, worried enough for Imi who had already gotten hurt when she was following Hannah and Beth.

Sam and Chris left the living room to find the first aid kit. Already seeing the looks of it, Imi might have broken her ankle or something.

"Holy shit!" Ash cried, surprised. "You played hero Josh. You should totally ask her out."

I felt my face heat up and I laughed a little.

"I'm not sure about that," I replied a little shyly.

Shortly after, Chris and Sam returned with the first aid kit then Imi came back with a sheet of paper in her hand. She definitely had something to show me.

"Read this," she said as she sat beside me at the couch and showed the note to me.

 _Hannah,_  
 _You look so damn hot in that shirt but so bet you're even hotter out of it. Come to the guest room at 2:00 am. ;-)_  
 _Mike xxx_

"Oh god!" I gasped before I turned to Mike. "Explain this to me, please?"

"Jess and Emily set this up Josh," Imi said.

I had a feeling Emily had something to do with it but Jess too? I shook my head before sitting down.

*Imi's POV*

I heard Sam went to go call the police, the others except for Josh and Chris left the living room.

Josh went to examine my ankle, probably trying to figure out what had happened. He tilted my foot and that was when the pain set in.

I gasped when I felt it, trying my hardest not to flinch away from Josh.

"Could be a sprain," Josh guessed.

Before I could answer, Sam returned from calling the police.

"The police are on their way," she said.

She seemed to have noticed that Josh wasn't really paying attention to her and I probably could understand why.

"What's wrong Josh?" Sam asked.

"First my sisters are missing and now she's hurt," Josh replied, frustration and sadness clearly evident in his voice.

"Josh," I said. "We'll worry my ankle later. Your sisters are the priority."

He nodded sadly, probably realizing that I had to mention it. I looked up at his eyes with a sad expression on my face.

"I'm so sorry Josh," I sobbed.

His eyes were practically on the verge of tears and I could already see why.

"It's not your fault Imi," he said, trying to fight back tears. "You tried to save them and got hurt in the process. You are a real hero even if..."

I could see he couldn't hold back from sobbing anymore. I felt so sorry for him.

"If... they're not coming back," he finished before he cried on my shoulder.

*Third Person POV*

The police had arrived just an hour after Josh had brought Imi back to the lodge.

All nine kids told the police about what had happened and Josh was most devastated. He still continued to hold onto hope that his sisters would return.

Imi continued to be there for him as well as Chris and Sam. The one thing that seemed to slow in all of the kids' minds were the unsettling fear that the twins would not be able to return.


	2. Arrival

*Third Person POV*

Josh before had struggled to come to come to terms with his loss. He couldn't bear trying to even endure what he was going through.

He shut out all of his friends except for Sam, Chris and especially Imi. Josh seemed to have suddenly fall more for Imi but she still had no idea that he even had a crush on her.

It was here. February 2, 2015, the anniversary of the disappearance of Hannah and Beth Washington.

Josh had decided for all the kids to meet up at the lodge as a way to help them come to terms over their loss.

However, Josh wanted this "get together" but he had something big planned for his friends and a bigger plan for one of them. He just had to wait for the right time.

*Sam's POV*

I was in the bus, on my way to Blackwood Mountain. I was listening to my iPhone.

Things had changed a lot since last year. Josh had pushed everyone away except for me and especially Imi. I knew he had this crush on her but she often denied it, saying that he just sees her as a friend. I decided not to push her and just accepted it.

"Today is the one year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington," a man said through my earphones. "Sheriff Annie Cline who was in charge of the investigation."

"Thanks for having me Marty," a woman's voice said.

"...listeners has an update on Hannah and Beth Washington, the twins who are still missing."

Still missing? What the hell? Well, then again in this past year, there hasn't been much on that ever since that happened.

"One year ago, the Washington girls left the safety of their parents' lodge and headed out into a snowstorm," the woman explain. "Their friend Imigie Harmony followed them until she was found by the Washingtons' son Joshua."

"Foul play?" The man asked.

"Not officially no. There is one individual we are considering as a person of interest but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Washington family. He had warned them against pursuing their construction project and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers."

"You know there is that old Sanatorium on the mountain. Could he be hiding there?"

"My officers did search the grounds but the twins themselves couldn't have made it that far."

"Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events."

Events? Was there more tragic happenings that happened on the mountain that I had no knowledge about?

"More than you know Marty."

"Well thank you for joining us, Annie. To all the Washingtons tonight, their son Josh on this, the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Hannah and Beth Washington."

I shuddered a bit, partially from the cold and from what I had just heard.

Suddenly, my friend Josh appeared on the screen, making me smile a bit.

"Well hello friends and fans," he said before he shook his head with a dorky smirk on his face. "Yeah, let's do that again."

I fell into a heap of silent giggles as I watched him adjust the camera on my phone screen. After a bit, he seemed like he finally got the job done.

"Hello friends and fans," he said again. "It's beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. First off, I wanna say, I am super excited to welcome all my pals back for the annual Blackwood winter getaway."

He gave a little cheer which made me laugh a little. He had always made me laugh and my other friends, especially his crush Imi.

"So...um... let me just let you know, let's take a moment to... address the "elephant in the room" for a second."

His voice suddenly became more serious and more solemn. Shit, I felt so bad for him. After everything that had happened last year.

"I know you're all probably worried about me and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year but... I just want you all to know... it means... it means so much to me that we're doing this. And I... I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're all still here together and thinking of them. I really want to spend some quality with each and every one of you and um... and share some moments that we'll never forget, for... for the sake of my sisters, you know? Okay... so..."

His sad expression was then replaced by an expression of happiness. His eyes glowed brightly and the smile on his face grew big.

"Let's party like we're fucking pornstars, okay?" He laughed. "And make this one trip one we will never forget. Yes!"

I gave a slight smile to the screen as then it blacked out and returned to the song that I was listening to.

The bus continued its way Blackwood Pines, as I told him to stop there or he wouldn't.

I remembered Josh and I leaning for mutual support after losing the twins, same for Josh and Imi. Or I should say Josh and I leaned for mutual support over losing Hannah while Imi and Josh did the same thing over losing Beth.

I was more closer to Hannah than I was to Beth while Imi was more closer to Beth than Hannah.

The bus finally stopped at Blackwood Pines and I quickly got up from my seat and got my backpack as I made my way out of the bus, waving goodbye to the driver in the process.

I quickly brushed away any wrinkled on my skirt before continuing on.

I opened the gate then closed it as I made my way to the cable car station. I heard some strange sounds but I decided to brush them off, not caring at all.

Along the way, I saw a squirrel coming towards me. I quickly grabbed some nuts for it.

"Hey little fella," I cooed as I got down on my knees, held the nuts out for the squirrel then stayed as still as possible. "You hungry?"

The squirrel slowly came closer then grabbed the nuts from my hands. I honestly couldn't help but smile as it ran off with with nuts in its hand.

"Cute," I whispered, still smiling.

I stood up then continued to make my way to the cable car station. It was cold but I wasn't going to stop.

I then finally made it to the cable car station but noticed a backpack on the bench. I eyed it suspiciously but then recognized it.

"Chris?" I called to the owner of the backpack. "Your bag's here. You're not in the bag, are you?"

I chuckled at myself before my thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing cell phone. I immediately knew who's phone was buzzing.

Chris's phone was slightly out of his backpack as it continued to buzz. I eyed it curiously, wondering if I should snoop or close the bag.

My curiosity grew immensely strong that I took Chris' phone out of his bag and looked at it with interest.

From what the screen was showing, he had gotten a text from our friend Ashley, Chris' crush. Josh and I had often teased them about not even making the first move despite them being so close friends.

"Aha!" I whispered. "Look who it is."

This was the perfect time for me to investigate what's going on. I just hoped that they would get to make the first move.

"Hey nosy," a familiar voice said, causing me to jump as I turned to see who it was.

"Chris!" I gasped.

Chris stared at me with a confused and rather annoyed expression on his face.

"Hey, are you my secretary?" He asked sounding slightly pissed.

"It was buzzing," I protested, hoping he would understand.

He nodded but he still looked rather annoyed.

"Thanks for letting me know," he sighed. "I can take it from here."

He took the phone from me, took a look at it then put it away before turning to me again, now grinning.

"Oh," he said energetically. "I found something kinda amazing."

Kinda amazing? That definitely caught my eye, wondering what it was.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you," he replied. "You gotta see for yourself."

He then led the way while I followed him. Whatever Chris was wanting to show me, I hoped it was as great as he said it would be.


	3. A Meeting

*Imi's POV*

Losing Beth and Hannah had been one hell of a loss for me. And especially with Beth being my best friend, it stung me pretty well.

I had leaned to Josh for support and even leaned to my other best friend, Ashley.

Like Ashley, I loved to put my nose in a book and often writing.

I knew about Ashley's crush on Chris but I never dared to mention it to her.

Ashley though occasionally mentions my crush on Josh but I often rejected it, thinking that he liked Sam.

I had already made my way to Blackwood Pines then walked to the cable car station.

I noticed that Sam and Chris were at the shooting range at the base of the ski lodge, smiling.

Ever since my mother passed away when I was sixteen, my father was there to give me a lot of pointers with shotguns, flamethrowers and other things that a typical daughter would never really know.

I walked up to Chris and Sam and tried to find a way to come in without fully scaring them.

"Mind if I join?" I asked quietly.

Chris and Sam turned to me, first looking surprised then smiled.

"Hey Imi," Chris said cheerfully as he came to hug me.

"Hey Chris," I replied happily, hugging him back.

I let go of him then hugged Sam. She too also hugged me back.

We let each other go and I saw Chris picking up a shotgun and aiming it to a sandbag before shooting it.

"You wanna try Sam?" He asked her.

"No thanks," she replied, shaking her head.

Chris then turned to me.

"You want to try?" He asked.

"Sure," I replied as I took the gun from his hands. "I'm a little out of practice so don't judge."

Chris laughed a little and I couldn't help but laugh back at him.

I then aimed the shotgun at another sandbag then shot it.

I was pretty surprised at how well I did and this was definitely a good practice for if I was in any danger, the shotgun would do me hella justice.

I aimed at a beer bottle that was on top of one of the barrels before I shot it.

"Damn girl!" Chris laughed. "You're Definitely getting the hang of this."

I laughed as I handed the gun back at him so I could watch him take a few shots.

*Chris' POV*

After I took the gun from Imi's hands, I prepared to aim at a beer bottle that was on the ground.

I was pretty damn impressed with Imi's shooting, despite the fact that she did say that she was out of practice but I didn't care.

I then shot the beer bottle then smiled at myself.

"Wow, nice shootin' Tex," Sam joked.

"I'm bad," I joked back at her before deciding to do a silly little victory dance. "I'm a badass."

"You're such a dork Chris," Imi laughed as she patted my shoulder.

She then walked away from us before turning to stop.

"Oh, and I'll go ahead and make my way to the lodge," she said.

"The cable car isn't here yet," Sam protested.

I too was confused at why Imi would already leave despite the cable car not being there yet.

"Oh, I'm a supernatural witch," Imi replied before she closed her eyes as she slowly faded away just like that.

"Holy shit," I whispered. "Did she just.. disappear?"

Sam turned to me then nodded in agreement.

I turned back to the shooting range and continued to practice shooting and celebrating my victories in my head.

I suddenly saw a squirrel climb up to the barrel. I couldn't help but give a little "aww" over how cute it was. Normally, I wouldn't care but for Sam's sake, I decided not to shoot it and instead shot a the sandbag.

I was already to do some more but Sam interrupted my thoughts.

"Um, our ride's here," she said.

"Come on, I was getting the hang of this," I protested.

"Come on Chris, cable car," she insisted, leading the way to the cable car.

I followed her to the cable car station then Sam approached to the door, tried to open it but with no success.

"That's weird," she wondered. "It's locked."

"Josh wanted to keep it locked from people," I explained.

"Really? What people?"

"He said there were people sleeping here."

"Creepy," Sam replied, shaking her head.

I took out the key from my pocket then used it to unlock the door. Then I opened the door, keeping it open for Sam to enter before I did.

"A real gentlemen," Sam said as I closed the door behind me.

"It's weird how fast a year goes," I said solemnly.

"Yep," Sam replied.

"I don't know how Josh kept it together. I'd be a wreck."

I wasn't lying at that. Watching my best friend fall apart after losing his loved ones must be tough as hell.

I easily remembered that a year before before the twins went missing, our friend Imi had lost her mother by the hands of a monster in the woods.

It was me, Sam, Hannah and especially Josh, Beth and Ashley that filled in the whole. Hell, even the others came in to fill the whole for her.

"He's not the kind of guy who's gonna just ask for help, you know," Sam replied just before the cable car came in.

"Our ride's here," she said excitedly as she got into the cable car.

"Well I was gonna stay and catch some zzzzs but okay," I laughed as I followed her into the car. "It's like going to the prom."

Of course I couldn't refrain from using that joke even though I was not romantically involved with Sam.

The door to the car closed then I felt something like a jerk and I knew what it was.

"Here we go," Sam said as the car started moving. "I hope this was the right thing to do."

"What?" I asked, giving Sam a questioning look.

"Getting everyone together at the anniversary," she replied. "Josh seemed pumped up about it."

"No," I argued. "I haven seen him so excited over something in forever."

"Aww, bro, good talk."

Sam gave me a little pat to the arm and I couldn't help but laugh a little at her actions.

"Let's just not talk about last year," I said. "You know how Josh and I met?"

She shook her head.

"Third grade," I explained. "Josh sat in the back of the room and I sat in the front. We didn't even know each other existed. That was until the kid in front of him started strap snapping the training bra on the girl in front of him. So the teacher made him move to the front where I was sitting. And I got moved to the back, and next to Josh. That's how we met. If it wasn't for Jeanie Simmons hitting puberty like three years early and then on that day decided to wear a low cut shirt that showed her training bra, you could be sitting in this cable car alone...or with a different person entirely."

Sam nodded in agreement before I had some final words to tell her what this basically was.

"Boom, butterfly effect."

She laughed at my little statement as we continued our journey to the other cable car station that was still kinda far from the lodge but I was sure that we would get there soon.


	4. Discovery

*Jess' POV*

I was sitting on the bench at the cable car station that was still quite a bit away from the ski lodge.

It was a nice didn't but it was quite cold. But I was waiting for someone to come. I was anxious to see them.

I suddenly heard a creaking sound and that already told me something.

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy," I said to myself. "New people. Time to meet and greet."

I got up from my seat, leaving my phone and book on the bench and wondered who was coming. I secretly hoped it was my new boyfriend, Mike.

My hopes were shattered when I bumped into the cable car and noticed two familiar faces. I gasped then back away a bit to take a closer look.

"What the hell?"

"Jess, Hey!" Chris shouted.

"Jessica, over here!" Sam called to me.

Their voices sounded muffled, hence why I could see them who were inside of the cable car.

I looked at them, father skeptical for a minute then had a question for them.

"Uh... are you guys having a really weird stroke?" I asked.

"We're stuck in this stupid thing," Chris explained, sounding annoyed.

"Can you please let us out?" Sam pleased. "Pretty please?"

I nodded as I pressed the button for the cable car door to open, allowing Chris and Sam to walk out of the cable car.

They looked rather relieved to be out of there and I couldn't blame them.

"Oh my god," Chris said sarcastically. "I thought we were goners. Another ten minutes in there and I would've chewed off my own leg."

I shuddered at what he was saying, as well as being a tad bit annoyed with him.

"Aww, suck Chris," Sam shook her head.

"Look I got a lot of meat on my bones," Chris argued, pointing at his legs. "This is all muscle down here."

The sound of that didn't sit with my mental state very well as I shuddered again.

"Yeah, right, Uh-huh," Sam replied sarcastically back at him.

I gave Sam a little smirk before turning to Chris who suddenly took a note I out of my hand.

"Hey!" I shouted, now already more annoyed with him than I was before.

I noticed that Sam too looked rather concerned and annoyed. I guess she didn't like to see what Chris did just as much as I felt.

"Relax," Chris smirked playfully. "I'm just doing like Sam taught me. Other people's thoughts are my own personal playground."

I gave Chris a disgusted look as he looked at the note with interest.

"Don't be a jerk!" Sam protested.

"My goodness!" Chris gasped as he stared at my note, the interest on his face not even close to fading but more so increasing. "Seems like someone has a lil' crush on our dear good friend and class president Michael Monroe."

"Chris-" Sam tried but Chris immediately cut her off.

"And what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining," he continued. "I wonder..."

"My imagination may be wild but I don't think we want to go there," I heard a voice behind me, causing me to jump.

I turned to see Imi there but she wasn't even there before. How the hell did she get here?

"Imi!" I cried as she patted my shoulder.

"Your choice if you'd like to tell them or not," she whispered.

I nodded to her before turning back to Chris and Sam.

"Give that back you tool!" I insisted, trying to get the note from Chris but he refused to give it back to me.

Chris continued to smirk at me with an obvious sense of humor in it.

"Tool and die," he replied. "That's my motto."

I sighed, having enough of his ridiculous games.

"You're such an idiot," I responded. "Maybe nosey nancies shouldn't be nosin' around in other people's... nostrils."

Sam looked utterly confused but Chris looked amused at my remark.

"Uh, yeah," he replied. "I try not to that. As a rule."

"Come on Jess, you can tell us," Sam insisted. "We can totally keep secrets."

"She doesn't have to though," Imi replied as she brushed off the bit of snow on her dark blue sports coat and her black yoga pants.

Thankfully someone seemed to agree with me that I probably didn't want to say anything.

"Whatever," I replied in a slightly disgusted tone. "You'll figure it out eventually."

I quickly gave Imi a little nudge on the shoulder as a way to thank her for supporting me. She nodded before I turned to Chris.

"Alright alright," Chris sighed. "Let's just get up to the lodge already. Getting tired of all this nature and junk."

I shook my head, knowing fully well I was going to sit for a bit.

"You guys go ahead," I said. "I'm just gonna wait here for a bit and see who else is coming."

"You mean Mike?" Chris lightened up, looking deeply interested.

"Knock it off dude!" Imi insisted.

"What?" I gasped. "I mean, you know. Whoever."

"Uh huh," Chris murmured before he turned to Sam who was looking at the view. "Sam?"

"Did you see this view?" She asked. "I mean holy cow! Sometimes I forget to just stop and take it all in."

I shook my head. I knew Sam was definitely fanning over her love of nature but this place looked hella creepy.

"That's a nice thought but I don't think that will sit too well for me," Imi said nervously.

I agreed with her. Perhaps maybe the thought of this view would probably creep me the fuck out.

Chris, Sam and Imi then walked away as I made my way back to the bench as I waited for one person in particular to come by. I was ready for it to happen.


	5. Old Friends

*Matt's POV*

"Seriously, couldn't they have built the lodge like where the cable car ends?" My new girlfriend Emily complained.

"I don't think it would have been, like, as pretty, you know," I replied as I picked up Emily's bags.

We were walking our way to the lodge after arriving at the higher level of the cable car station.

"And where's the bellboy when you need one?" Emily questioned as she turned to me.

I shrugged as I followed her down the path. I wasn't exactly too pleased about taking the bags but I had to please Emily.

"Brrr," Emily shivered. "I'm getting chills."

"We're almost there-" I tried to reassure her.

"No I mean I'm getting kind of creeped out," she replied in a slightly nervous tone.

I nodded, showing that I understood what she meant.

"Oh, yeah," I said.

"Gonna be weird seeing everyone here again," Emily commented.

I definitely agreed with her. Along with something else with it.

"Definitely not gonna feel like a regular party," I added. "I mean, what do you think-"

I was suddenly cut off when a figure jumped out, causing me and Emily to jump.

I caught my breath when I saw a familiar face.

"Whoa dude!" I cried.

"Jesus Michael!" Emily gasped.

Mike clapped then laughed a bit at his attempt at scaring us.

"You guys!" He laughed.

"Michael!" Emily cried.

"You really should have seen your faces right there," he laughed.

I shook my head, knowing fully well that if I thought if it was some kind of psychopath, I would've probably got the fuck out of here.

"Dude, I almost clocked you just now," I said, my voice almost hard.

"Nice one," Mike laughed.

I shook my head again as Emily looked at him with a small hint of disgust on her face.

"Michael, you're a jerk," she replied.

I stared at Mike carefully as he began to speak again.

"Come on guys," he said. "We're all friends here, right? No need for violence, just a little harmless fun. We're up in the woods. It's spooky. Come on, let's get into the spirit of things."

I gave Mike a puzzled look, wondering what in the hell he meant.

 _Spirit of things? What the hell?_ I thought nervously.

I turned to Emily who looked rather disgusted.

"The spirit of things?" She wondered. "Seriously? What's wrong with you?"

I tilted my head a bit, just to make sure I was hearing Mike correct but I was still confused as hell.

"Just trying to lighten the mood Em," Mike protested. "Don't be like that."

"Like what?" She asked.

"The way you're being. You always get like this."

I was not going to tolerate sitting here for the drama between former dating buddies Mike and Emily. I just wanted to lay the damn middle ground.

Plus, I felt super awkward being the one in the middle of the drama, especially with being a high school student, unlike my other friend and fellow high school student Imi who was much more quiet than most of her peers, ironically wasn't afraid to get in the middle of an argument, even if she's trying to stop it.

I took a deep breath then turned to Mike who seemed to be having his attention to me.

"Michael," I said. "I'm just gonna lay it out there or this weekend is gonna suck ass for everyone. This is super awkward and we all know. Let's just acknowledge it now and move on, okay?"

Emily didn't look pleased but Mike's eyes seemed to lighten up in understandment to my words.

"I hear you man," he said. "I get it. I don't wanna make this weird."

I smiled then nodded at him.

"We're good?" I asked.

"All good," Mike replied.

Emily looked amused as she leaned more towards us.

"You guys gonna make out now?" She joked.

"Oh my god totally we're so gonna make out," Mike replied in a sassy voice.

I couldn't help but smile a bit at his rather silly nature.

"Uh, no," he continued, sounding like himself again. "Seriously, I'm gonna go check on the cable car back down the trail."

Mike and I said our goodbyes as Mike took off, leaving me and Emily alone here.

I turned to go pick up the bags and was ready to head off until Emily cut me off.

"Oh crap," she grumbled.

I turned to her with a hint of concern shown on my way, wondering what was up with her.

"What?" I asked.

"Hey, could you take these the rest of the way?" She asked.

"The bags?" I wondered.

"Yes, all the bags."

I eyed her curiously, wondering why she wanted to leave.

"Why?"

"I need to go find Sam."

"Um...okay...?"

"Sorry, I just really need to go find her. I totally forgot I needed to talk to her before we get all the way up here."

"This really can't wait? We're almost there."

"It's important, Matt, please."

I considered my options on whether I should let her do what she needed to do or insist that she can't go alone.

I decided that I wasn't going to push her. She was my girlfriend after all and as a boyfriend, I had to let her go off on her own a few times.

"Alright," I agreed. "If it's so important, I'll go ahead and take the bags the rest of the way. Just be careful."

"Alright," she replied. "See you on the way."

She walked away then turned to me and blew a kiss. I couldn't help but smile at her. She then turned away before I turned away then picked up the bags to take up to the lodge. Now this was going to be an interesting trip.


	6. Spilled Tea

*Ashley's POV*

I was looking through the telescope at the view of the mountain. I was freezing but I couldn't help but enjoy the view that I was watching.

"Oh," I whispered as I slightly looked up for a bit before I looked back down through the telescope.

I moved the telescope a bit just when I heard some footsteps coming closer. I turned to see my best friend Imi standing there.

"Hey Imi!" I said happily.

"Hey Ashley," she replied with a smile on her face.

We gave each other a brief hug before I turned back to the telescope.

I was looking around with it until I noticed two familiar human beings who were talking, looking like they were flirting. My eyes widened in surprise as I kept looking.

"Whoa, hello," I whispered. "Someone's getting a little friendly. And not in a friend zone kind of way. They should check the expiration on their big break up."

I turned to Imi who looked a bit puzzled.

"You want to check it out?" I asked.

She nodded as I backed away then showed her to the telescope. She looked to the telescope then gasped in shock.

"Good lord," she breathed. "I swore they broke up quite some time after the twins went missing. Matt told me the story about it during English. All before Emily dated him for basically a rebound."

I nodded to her as she continued to look through the telescope.

All of the sudden, I heard a yell, causing me to jump, also hearing Imi gasp as she, too, jumped.

"Oh god," I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

"You got me good Matt," Imi laughed.

"Oh my gosh!" I grumbled, playfully hitting Matt.

Matt seemed a bit surprised at my reaction to it all.

"Gee, I'm sorry Ash," he apologized to me.

I patted him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"It's okay, it's fine," I reassured him.

He patted Imi on the shoulder before also focusing on me.

"Anything juicy?" He asked curiously.

I turned to Imi who nodded to me with a serious look on her face.

"We should tell him the truth," she said.

I agreed with her as I turned to Matt, giving him the best of the honesty he needed.

"Go ahead and knock yourself out," I said.

Matt nodded as he went to look at the telescope then I noticed his jaw hanging in shock.

"Son of a bitch!" He shook his head. "Seriously, Emily? What the hell man?"

"Maybe it's nothing-" I protested.

"Nothing? Is it ever just nothing with Em?"

"I'll be honest here but I'm kinda with Matt on this one," Imi whispered. "I love Em but she can be quite unpredictable."

"Damn it!" Matt muttered before walking away.

I was about to call him but Imi pulled me away.

"Just give him some space for now," she suggested.

I nodded as we both then made our way to the ski lodge to meet our old friends again after everything that happened last year.


	7. Snowball Fight

*Jess' POV*

I was once again sitting at the cable car station bench patiently. I saw my phone on one side of me and my book on the other side of me. I wanted to pick up one of them to ease and tone down my boredom.

I went ahead and picked up my book that I had in hand. I nodded to myself as I opened the book and was just about to read when I felt snow nearly hit me, the sound making me jump, causing me to drop my book.

I gasped before I looked up to see my new boyfriend having fun with the snowballs. Gee, Michael!

"You did not just do that," I said, laughing.

Mike seemed to look at me, rather amused and I knew he was ready for us to do something.

"Put your hands up where I can see 'em!" Mike replied in a southern accent. "We gotcha surrounded!"

Oh, the good ole' role playing game. This was definitely gonna be fun.

"But who am I to retaliate?" I shot back, also in a southern voice, enjoying the role playing game as I stood up from my seat and held up my hands. "What choice do I, a supple young rebel girl have, but to surrender to the strapping military guard come to take me into custody?"

Thinking quickly, I sneakily picked up a snowball without Mike seeing what I was up to. I then hid the snowball behind my back as I walked out of the station.

"I-well. I dunno, when you put it like that..." Mike started before I started to run.

"Hey!" He shouted as I laughed.

I briefly turned my direction to Mike as I continued to run, aiming at Mike before I hit him with the snowball that I hid behind me. I couldn't help but laugh at the splendid job I did at getting him.

"You're gonna pay, you know what?" Mike asked as I continued to laugh.

I picked up a snowball by a picnic table, smiling at myself before I prepared myself to hit Mike with it.

"Where are you hiding, little chick-a-dee?" Mike laughed.

I immediately aimed at Mike before making another perfect hit at him with the snowball. I laughed again as I kept running.

Mike suddenly had a snowball and I knew he wanted revenge. He tried to hit me but I dodged the snowball in time.

"Oh snap!" I laughed.

I picked up another snowball before I aimed then gave a perfect shot at Mike. I smiled at the great job I was doing at being so damn playful.

I made myself another snowball then turned to Mike.

"You can't hide from me Michael," I teased. "I know all of your tricks."

I noticed that there was a bird on the branch and I refused to hit it. It deserved to live so I remained still and did nothing before the bird flew away, allowing me to sigh in relief.

I then turned to Mike who looked like he was trying to grab a snowball. I went in and hit him with it on the head.  
We both laughed as I ran towards him but then stopped for a brief moment.

"Oh you're going down!" I heard Mike say.

I turned, thinking I would dodge him but he tackled me down before I could react. I was laughing and smiling at him.

"Done city!" Mike exclaimed.

"So did I go down?" I asked.

"I don't think so."

"I'd think you'd know if I did."

"Alright alright."

I was feeling rather flattered by Mike's words. I knew he was flirting with me at this point.

"My my," I said. "So are we calling it my favor then?"

"Your worthy opponent, Ms Jessica the Snowball Queen," Mike teased.

The sound of that was rather dirty but also oddly turning me on. I couldn't quite figure out why.

"Okay, that sounds vaguely dirty."

"My lady."

I was too anxiously for the romance to began as I quickly pressed my lips against his. The kiss felt passionate.

Shortly after, we pulled away from each other as I took a deep breath.

"Wow," I breathed. "Save some for later buddy."

"Endless reserves," Mike replied.

He slightly tensed up a bit and I was beginning to wonder why.

"We should get up to the lodge," he suggested.

"Yeah, it's so nice out here though," I commented. "Pretty breathtaking."

"I mean, I could stay out here for pretty much... ever," Mike replied as he got up before helping me up. "Provided I was making out with you the whole time."

"Just making out?" I wondered.

"Quote unquote."

"Well, I think we might freeze to death somewhere between those quotes."

"Yeah," he agreed.

Mike and I made our way to the lodge to meet up with everyone else. Things had changed quite a bit but I hoped we would all put the past behind us and allow us to make use of the precious time we had to spend this weekend.


	8. Pals Meet Up

*Chris' POV*

I was finally at the lodge and Sam took off, Probably to do her own thing. I didn't mind. I bet she probably liked the nature of it.

I suddenly felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned to see it was Imi again. She seemed as surprised as I was but we laughed it off.

"I had to," she giggled.

I couldn't help but laugh back at her before hugging her. She was so small just standing by me.

"Of course you did little shortie," I teased as she laughed back.

Imi was the shortest out of us all and the smallest but was surprisingly ripped. She was cute but buff at the same time.

I elbowed her on what she called her "boulder shoulder" due to her shoulders being ripped. I laughed, thinking about it.

"Is it just me or are you getting more ripped?" I asked.

"I don't quit from getting ripped," she replied.

I gave her a smirk before she turned to the lodge and stood at the door when I suddenly bumped into someone.

"Heh Cochise!"

I immediately recognized the voice and the person that would always call me that. I turned to see the face of my best friend.

"Hey Josh," I smiled as we fisted each other.

"Sup bro," he laughed.

"Not much but I did talk to Imi."

"You told her about my crush on her?"

I was well fully aware of Josh's crush on Imi but I never mentioned it to her because I knew she'd either deny it or she'd be pretty shy about it.

"No," I replied.

Josh smirked before crossing his arms, probably not too pleased that I chose to not speak to Imi about it.

"Then I will have to myself," he replied. "She's got the buns to die for man. What other kind of gal would look that ripped and petite?"

I shrugged before deciding to change the subject. I didn't want to go in further details about it.

"Man, I feel like this mountain gets bigger every time I climb it," I exclaimed, seemingly surprised at my own words.

Josh shrugged as he looked around, probably wondering if I had it right.

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "It feels the same to me."

I thought about it for a moment but something else rang in my head. I mean, Josh went to this mountain many times.

"Oh come on, you grew up here," I replied. "It probably feels like it's shrinking."

Josh nodded in agreement, and I smirked at him, probably a sign that we could agree on something.

"I guess that's true," he nodded.

I smiled before pulling my phone out of my pocket only to see that there was no service. I sighed, not liking the fact that there was no wifi here. I desperately needed to use the internet, or really wanted to.

I put my phone back in my pocket then turned to Josh.

"When are you gonna install some cell towers up here?" I asked. "I'm getting withdrawals already."

"You got a spare million lying around and I'll fix you right up," Josh replied as he led me to the lodge.

"Funny that you should say that," I replied, thinking about what he said. "I think I left it in my other jacket."

"Oops," he replied.

He turned to the others who were standing. Matt looked like he was sulking, Ashley was sitting on the stairs and Imi was standing by the door.

"Hey guys," Josh greeted, waving. "Get up here okay?"

"Yeah," Ashley replied. "Well... more or less. But it's so good to see you."

"I guess," Imi piped up. "Had a few problems with my car. It might be on the verge of breaking down soon. It's not used to me. But it's great to see you again."

Josh seemed to be a bit concerned. It was an obvious sign that he liked her but I didn't want to say anything.

"If you want, I can always back you up," he replied. "Just know I'll be the one driving you everywhere if your father isn't around."

She giggled quietly at his comment. I smiled, watching their interaction with interest. I noticed that even Ashley looked rather interested.

Josh turned to Matt, looking a bit questionable.

"Sup with him?"

"Give him some space," Imi said.

Josh led the way up to the stairs and then to the door where Imi was standing. She looked like she was a little cold.

Unsurprisingly, Josh put an arm around her and I widened my eyes at how small she was standing next to him. At this point, I secretly hoped this hinted for a relationship for them.

"Yo yo yo. Are we gonna get things moving up here or what?" I asked.

Imi looked up at Josh with a worried expression on her face.

"Yeah man," he replied as he comforted Imi.

I felt a sense of concern for Josh. Ever since he lost his sisters, I knew he'd be a wreck. I mean, he did especially lean to Sam and Imi for moral support but on those days when he was alone, I couldn't imagine the pain he went through.

"Hey...you doin' alright?" I asked him, looking concerned. "I mean I know it must be really tough without your sis-"

"Stop," Josh interrupted.

"I just meant that-"

"No I know what you meant," he continued. "You know seriously, I'm over it, an I just want us to have a good time, you know? Like we always used to."

He turned to Imi who was standing next to him.

"Maybe ask her who nearly died trying to find them herself before the police did," he finished.

I turned to Imi who widened her eyes in concern.

"I still have nightmares about that night," she said, shuddering a little.

I gave her a hug before letting her go then I turned to Josh who was trying to open the door.

"Dammit..." he grumbled. "This freaking thing."

That sent a wave of thoughts through my head at the instant.

"It's iced?" I asked.

"What else?"

"Maybe there's another way in."

"There are a million ways in. They're just all locked."

An idea suddenly popped into my head. I bet Josh wasn't realizing that if no doors would be open, there would have to be an alternative way in.

"There's gotta be like a window round the corner we can get, like, "get open" or something."

Josh and Imi widened their eyes at what I was saying.

"Wait a second, are you saying we should break in?" Josh looked confused.

"I don't think it's technically breaking in if you own the place, right?" I wondered out loud.

Josh smiled, now seemingly understanding what I was saying.

"Hey," he replied. "Not if I don't report you."

I backed away a bit, confused about everything. Of course there are windows to possibly get in through but which one would be useable?

"Umm..." I pondered.

"Lead the way, Cochise," Josh pointed.

He turned to Imi who was mostly quiet during our interaction.

"How about you come with us," he said. "Don't need you to be freezing your buns off."

She shrugged before nodding at him. I almost smirked at these two. Josh was clearly hinting a crush on her but I didn't think she'd buy it.

I then led the way downstairs with Imi and Josh behind me before I turned to Ashley who was sitting towards the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Ash," I greeted to her.

"Hey Chris," she replied.

It honestly felt strange being back here but I knew I couldn't just be unsettled to the woman I had a crush on.

I squared my shoulders before saying anything.

"So, how're you doing?" I asked confidentially.

"Mm..good! But...a little cold," she replied. "I think I could use some one curled up by the fire."

Thoughts rang in my head but I didn't want to get ahead of myself, especially when I clearly wasn't sure if she'd like me back.

"Yeah..." I replied. "That does sound pretty nice."

I smiled before turning away to walk towards where Matt was standing. He still looked like he was sulking. I decided to walk to him to see how he was doing.

I didn't see any signs of Jess, Emily nor Mike so I definitely had the chance to do so.

I then stood in front of Matt.

"Matt," I greeted to him. "Been a while. Rough season, huh?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly. "Something like that."

He sounded a little sad. I felt bad for him and wondered if he was doing alright.

"Hey, you okay man?" I asked.

"Some people, you know?" he replied. "You think you know 'em."

I knew exactly who he was talking about but I refused to say anything about it. He was a nice guy and I didn't want to kill the "nice guy" mode in him. I just couldn't do it.

"Ooooh-kaaay," I replied, shrugging before walking away to the gate where Sam was standing.

I noticed that she seemed to be looking up at something. Typical Sam.

"So, you seen Ash yet?" she asked.

"Ummm... yeah?"

"Cool. Cool," she nodded before turning to me. "How's, Uh, how's she doing?"

I looked down a little bit, my cheeks starting to heat up.

"She's...fine. Why?"

"No reason," Sam replied as she turned back to whatever was in front of her.

I nodded before walking away then led the way where there might be an alternate way to the lodge to unfreeze the door.

Along the way, I noticed Josh was slightly chuckling to himself and I was beginning to wonder why.

"Ashley was looking pretty hot today, right?"

I turned to Imi who seemed rather shocked. I turned to Josh then stopped by a tree.

"She's like a "sleeper hit" kinda gal you know?" he continued. "Now I just want to rip that parka right off her and make some snow angels. Right?"

My cheeks heated up again but this time, I felt extremely uncomfortable with what he was saying.

"Um, Josh?" Imi piped up. "I don't think it's the right time."

He ignored her and kept his direction to me.

I could tell that I wasn't the only one uncomfortable with what he was saying. Sometimes, he went too far.

"Hey," I protested. "Cut it out. Man-"

"I mean if you're not gonna bang her... maybe Mike'll take up the case."

"Josh, no," Imi tried to butt in but he pushed her back a little bit too hard.

"Will you back off already?" I protested again, hoping he would listen to me since he was obviously not listening to Imi.

"Relax," he reassured me. "I'm just checking to see if there's some blood flowing down there."

"Josh, why?" Imi asked, obviously sounding concerned.

"Tsk, yeah." I replied.

Josh didn't even turn to Imi which bothered me. Why in the hell would he be rude to her?

"Listen dude," he said. "Look around you. Look at these beautiful mountains. Do you see any parents? I mean, can you imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities? You and Ashley, alone at least. You've laid all the groundwork, you've been a perfect gentleman. Now you come in for the kill!"

"Beautiful mountains?" Imi wondered nervously. "I'm not sure about that."

Josh patted her on the shoulder in a reassuring and comforting manner.

Maybe he had a point. I wasn't hoping to get into it quickly but I didn't see a reason to disagree with him.

"Maybe you're right," I said.

"You're a hunter bro. No fear. No mercy. I mean she won't even know what hit her."

I laughed at his reply, totally getting his point.

"Alright alright," I said. "I got it. Jeez."

I then led the rest of the way to the side of the lodge.

Josh and Imi followed close behind me as I looked around, checking my surroundings.

"So how are we planning on breaking in to my parents' lodge bud?" Josh asked.

"Wait," I thought for a moment. "I didn't say I had a plan-"

"You sounded like you had a plan," he replied. "You better deliver, Cochise, or else you got five lovely ladies who are gonna be freezing their buns off and last time I checked, that's not a good way to get laid."

I definitely agreed with him on that. I mean, buns are too valuable, right?

"Well, shoot," I said. "Nobody likes cool buns."

We continued our way to find a way into the lodge.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket and noticed that the battery was low. Ugh, that didn't sit well for me.

"Damn," I complained. "I'm getting pretty low on juice here. I just had to turn off my GPS. "I'm finally, like, outside, where I might actually use it-"

"You could always borrow mine for a good story," Imi suggested. "It's pretty infinite on juice. Rarely ever dies on me."

"Can you two cool it on the phone talk?" Josh said, slightly annoyed.

"I was just trying to help him," Imi protested. "I'm an infinite charger."

"What?" I sputtered, shocked. "Why?"

"It's pretty much all you talk about Cochise," Josh replied.

"Well, you know, I mean I can do all this stuff-"

"Well you got an app that can get us into the lodge?" Josh replied.

I shook my head.

"Got an app that can get you laid?" he asked again.

"Well, actually there's this-"

"Dude. You don't. The answer is that you don't."

"Not unless you can make one," Imi said quietly.

I smirked at her, happy that she understood me.

Josh turned to her, confused.

"What do you mean by you're an infinite charger?" He asked her.

"I'm actually able to charge any phones and charging them from like ten percent to one hundred percent takes like ten minutes," she explained. "My pocket is the best place for it to be charged."

We both nodded as I handed her my phone before she placed it in her pocket. Most of us were aware that she possessed supernatural powers, making her the definite great one in the group.

I suddenly noticed a metal bin there and an idea popped into my head. It made me smile, knowing I found something that could help at least one of us to get in.

"Well, well, well, we got ourselves a thinker," Josh applauded. "Nice one."

He nodded to Imi to push the bin. She nodded back at him as she walked to the bin and pushed it where it needed to be. She did it with a bit of effort. I was surprised that she did it without any help.

I turned to Josh, hopefully trying to speak to the point where she wouldn't hear.

"Damn," I gasped. "She's strong."

Josh chuckled a bit, slightly blushing but not as much as I did over Ashley.

"She's a keeper," Josh replied quietly. "Her buns may be freezing but they're buff at the same time. I'd sure love to get laid with her."

I nodded to him before getting up on the bin. I nearly fell but Josh and Imi helped me with my balance before I opened the window. Ah, this should be easy getting in, shouldn't it?

I flipped over, hoping to land on my feet, but ended up landing on my back. I winced at the pain but I didn't want to show it.

"I'm okay," I said, gritting my teeth. "I Should have paid more attention in climbing class."

"You mean gym?" Josh corrected me.

I knew what he meant. Just didn't know why I called it climbing class.

"Yeah, you know the climbing up the rope?" I asked.

Before Josh or Imi could answer, I suddenly saw a lightbulb break, causing me to jump a little.

I looked up, wondering if I must have done that or something.

"Did I do that?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Josh disagreed.

He turned to Imi who was standing next to him.

"How about you tag along with him," he said to her.

She nodded as she flipped over the same way I did expect that she landed on her feet, perfectly. How the hell did she make that perfect landing while I fell on my back? Must've been part of her being supernatural but damn!

"Here, use this," Josh said as he picked out a lighter from his pocket then threw it to me.

I turned it on to light up the area but Imi tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to her and saw she had a flashlight in her hand. She turned it on then pointed it to Josh. I smirked at her before turning off the lighter.

"Who, guys," Josh said, sounding excited. "I just got an awesome idea."

"For real?" Imi asked in a small voice.

"Totally," he replied.

"Well, what is it?" I grew curious as well.

"Okay. So I am pretty sure I've got some deodorant in one of the bathrooms," Josh explained. "You could use the with the lighter."

I narrowed my eyes brows in confusion.

"I don't follow," I replied. "How's a stick of deodorant gonna help?"

"Spray on can," Josh replied.

"You can make a flamethrower with it," Imi added, sounding rather hopeful.

That suddenly rang a bell and a memory in my head and I knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Oh, now I get y'all," I smiled. "Just like we do with the lil' army dudes."

I could hear Imi quietly giggling behind me. I remembered when Josh and I were melting the army dudes and Imi was watching, looking fascinated.

"Yep," Josh replied. "The ones we melted. Just point the spray-can at the lighter and FWOOSH."

"Bye bye frozen lock," I laughed.

"Bingo," Josh nodded before he turned to look around him before turning back to us. "Alright, so you got this. I'm gonna go sort something out. You two up for hunting around in the dark for a little bit?"

I looked around me as I noticed Imi tense up a bit. I had remembered that she had a slight fear of the dark but I was her best friend and I would do anything to protect her.

"Nope but we'll do it," I replied before pointing to Imi. "She's a bit afraid of the dark but I guess I'll have her back."

"Soon enough, it'll be my turn to do the job," Josh replied. "Who else would if you or Ash aren't around?"

I shrugged, turned to Imi who seemed to relax a little then I turned back to Josh.

"Godspeed pil-gram," he replied in an impersonation voice before leaving me and Imi alone to hunt for the deodorant.


	9. A Plan

*Chris' POV*

I turned to Imi who was holding her flashlight.

"You sure you can handle it?" I asked. "I know you're a bit afraid of the dark."

"I don't have a choice," she replied.

I nodded before I held out my hand to have her hand her flashlight to me.

I decided to lead the way, not wanting to put her through any possible fear of the dark. I knew my friend Ashley was more scared of the dark than Imi was but no matter how brave Imi was, I would hate to make her go through anything that scared her.

We went to a small what it seemed to be like a storage area. I noticed a piece of a newspaper then picked it up, holding it so that Imi could read it.

 _The Alberta: Ex-Janitor Convicted For Arson: Swears Revenge On Movie Mogul's Family._

"Oh god, please don't tell me there's some kind of psycho on the mountain," Imi gasped nervously.

Reading it made me feel uneasy but I didn't want to say anything. I just placed a hand on Imi's shoulder to comfort her before we continued our venture to the bathroom.

We walked down the hall as we suddenly heard some strange sounds along the way.

One of them that really caught our attention was when a door randomly closed by itself.

"What the hell was that?" I wondered.

"Must be a ghost," Imi replied.

I never really believed in ghosts or that but since Imi did believe in ghosts, I didn't want to say anything to her.

We walked to a door where everyone else was waiting for us. I decided to give a little freak out, especially to Ashley and Sam who were standing just right outside of the lodge.

"WOOOooOOooooOOO!" I booed.

I noticed Sam walk up to the door, laughing a little bit.

"Hey Chris, very funny," she commented.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked.

"Shouldn't you be like, getting the lock open or something?" She asked impatiently.

"On it," I replied.

"He decided to have a little fun," Imi replied, giggling.

We continued to venture towards to the bathroom when I suddenly found myself in the dining room. I decided that we should go in.

I noticed a black telephone there on the desk by the wall. I pressed a button on the phone and a beep came on.

"One new message," a female voice said in the answering machine. "New message."

A beep turned on again before a message came on.

"Hi Mrs. Washington," a male voice said. "This is Sergeant Tait again. It's bad news, I'm afraid. We've been through the case filed and there's nothing we can do. He's a free man. We don't have the legal power to restrict his movement. I know it's not what you wanted to hear, so call me if you want to know more."

A beep turned on for the third time.

"End of messages," the female voice said.

I exchanged a glance with Imi who widened her eyes in shock.

"Did I not realize something like this was going on?" Imi asked. "Dammit!"

I shrugged before leading the way out of the dining room and to the stairs going up and went up the stairs.

We went through another hallway which led us to yet another more wider hallway until I stopped by a door then opened it, showing a small hallway.

I took hold of Imi's arm then got her behind me, trying to protect her.

We finally got to the bathroom as I let go of Imi's arm then went to a cabinet that gave me a thought that the deodorant would be there.

I opened the door of the cabinet then widened my eyes in surprise, now happy that I found what I was suppose to be looking for.

 _Inferno For Men_

I was about to grab the deodorant but some kind of animal jumped up to me, staring at me with dangerous eyes before leaving the bathroom.

I screamed when this happened as I fell on the floor. I heard Imi laughing, probably at the fact that I screamed like a girl.

"What the fuck?" I shuddered.

I picked up the deodorant then nodded satisfied that I found it. I decided to hand Imi her flashlight and she took it without question.

We then headed back to the door of the lodge where everyone was waiting.

Imi turned off her flashlight before I went ahead and turned on the lighter then sprayed the can, allowing it to make a flamethrower.

I heated up the door with ease until I felt satisfied with it being warm enough for it to be opened without any trouble with it being iced.

I opened the door but it was blistering hot to the point that kinda burned my hand. I gasped then tried to wave it up and down to cool it off.

"Thank you, thank you thank you," I joked. "I'll be here all week-"

I was interrupted by the same animal that scared me in the bathroom. It was now leaving the lodge. I screamed when it happened, causing Ashley, Sam and Imi to laugh.

"Crap that thing freaked me out," I tried to catch my breath.

"What was that thing?" Ashley asked. "Are you okay?"

"If was like a bear or a tiger or something-"

"It's a wolverine you dork," Imi laughed from behind me.

"Aww it was just a cute baby wolverine," Sam cooed.

I widened my eyes in surprise. Was a baby animal like that suppose to be thy freaky?

"Baby?" I protested.

"Don't worry man," Josh suddenly said as he came between Sam and Ashley. "You'll be a big boy soon."

I smiled before letting everyone in the lodge, happy that no one had to spend anymore time outside in the freezing cold.

I was beginning to feel unsettled, coming back in. It brought back so many memories, one in particular that I didn't exactly want to speak of.


	10. Catfight

*Matt's POV*

"Home sweet home," Josh praised the very lodge he was walking into.

I shook my head, not exactly sure how I felt coming back in.

"Sweet is not the word I used," I replied as I placed down mine and Emily's bag down by the wall.

"Oh my gosh," Ashley sighed. "It's so good to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here."

"I'll get a fire going," Josh replied.

I looked around, seeing that there exactly wasn't much difference in this place, despite seeing some sheets on top of some furniture.

"This place barely looks any different," I said.

"Nobody's been up here," Josh said.

"Even with all the police coming on and out?" Ashley asked.

"Not a lot of action up here lately," Chris added.

"Nope," Josh agreed.

"Nothing really happened here," Imi added.

We were getting settled in until we were interrupted.

"What's up party people!" Mike shouted.

"Hey!" Jess greeted with a wave.

"Hey," Josh said happily.

I turned to Mike then a sudden vision of a memory came into my head.

 _I was looking through the telescope when I saw Emily and Mike hugging each other. I was fuming, thinking Emily was doing something I never thought she'd do._

My eyes narrowed darkly at him, ready for when I would get a chance to confront him about what happened earlier.

"Make yourself at home bro," Josh said.

"Will do," Mike replied.

I had enough and I was ready to confront him.

"Yeah," I grumbled. "Come on it. Take a load off, have whatever you want. You just take whatever you want anyways, right?"

I stood up and walked up to Mike, squaring my shoulders in the process, ready for a fight.

Mike backed up, looking a bit startled at my sudden action.

"Whoa, easy there cowboy," he tried to calm me down.

I didn't want to exactly push him but I was curious about why he was with Emily down at the trail.

"What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail, huh?" I asked.

"What?" Mike was surprised.

"I saw you and Em, thought the telescope."

"Before? We just ran into each other. It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?"

I took some time to think about it, deciding to just not push him. Maybe he did want to say hi to Emily and that was it. At least I hoped that's what he was doing.

"Right," I sighed, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "Yeah. Duh. Sorry, it's been kind of a long day. I overreacted."

"Nah man," Mike brushed it off. "Don't worry about it."

"We cool?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally."

I went ahead and took a seat where I was sitting before. I watched Mike sit and cuddle with Jess and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Oh my god, that is so gross," I heard Emily say as she made her way in the lodge. "Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

"Em..." I began.

"Seriously can she be any more obvious?" Emily continued, not even listening to me. "No one wants in on your territory, honey."

"Excuse me, did you say something?" Jess asked, looking confused as she stood up.

"Did you not hear me?" Emily complained. "Was your sluttiness too loud?"

"Sounds like someone's bitter she didn't make the cut."

"Yeah. It's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow."

"Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow."

I was conflicted. I really didn't want to see anyone fight but at the same time, I was far too loyal to Emily to stand against her.

"H-hey," I slight stammered to Jess. "You're making everyone uncomfortable, Jess-"

"Jealous much?" She snarled. "Emily too frigid for you too?"

"That's uncalled for," I protested. "Look-"

"Whatever," Jess sighed, turning away from Emily. "I don't give a crap what you think."

"At least I can think," Emily boasted. "4.0 bitch, honor roll. Suck on that while you're trying to sleep your way into a job."

I watched this catfight, feeling extremely uncomfortable with it. Mike looked like he didn't even care, Josh didn't pay attention, Chris, Ashley Sam seemed to watch with eyes wide and Imi looked like she was ready to intervene.

"Who needs grades when you got all the natural advantages you can handle," Jess said boastfully.

"Oh please," Emily groaned.

"You couldn't buy a moldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass," Jess insulted.

"Are you serious? You think that's insulting?"

"That bitch is on crack or something," Jess said turning to Mike.

I didn't like where this was going and Jess needed to stop.

"Jessica, you need to shut your mouth, okay?" I snapped.

"No," she replied, holding her finger in disapproval. "You're the one who needs to keep your nose out of other people's business!"

"Jess, that's not nice," I heard Imi chime in, standing between Emily and Jess. "He asked you to do a simple thing and if you'd kindly do it, I assure you nothing ain't gonna go wrong."

Jess looked like she was seething towards Imi.

"You know what? Imi, you need to stay out of it!" she shouted.

"Don't be harsh on my girl, Jess," Emily snapped.

"You know what?" Jess protested. "If Imi dated Mike, none of this would've happened!"

I became extremely uncomfortable hearing that. I remembered Imi had told me in English that Mike asked her out and they almost dated but she backed out because she thought that she wasn't Mike's type at all.

"Jess," Imi said. "You do realize why I backed out. I kinda figured out his type but I'm not spilling any beans about it. I was not his type so it's high time you learn a damn thing about me!"

"She has a point Jess," Emily said.

"Sad that you're coming in without a boyfriend," Jess snarled to Imi.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Jessica!" Emily snapped. "It's time you learn that Imi is nothing like you!"

"Oh please," Jess huffed, annoyed.

"Jess, you have to understand," Imi began. "You need to understand exactly where I'm coming from-"

"That's enough of you trying to walk into our business you bitch!" Jess grumbled before pushing Imi back down to her seat hard.

It hurt to watch Jess do this to Imi. They weren't exactly closest friends but Jess went way too far.

"And you deserve this!" Jess snapped at Imi before slapping her hard.

I noticed that everyone seemed to tense up a bit over Jess slapping Imi.

"That was uncalled for Jess!" Emily complained. "You knew she didn't deserve that! You can try pushing her out but I'm about to get right up in your business you bitch!"

"Are we about to get real?" Jess argued back. "Cause I am down to get real!"

"Stop it!" Josh suddenly yelled.

Everyone got quiet. It was strange since it was never really Josh's way to yell at anyone.

"This is not why we came up here," he continued. "This is not helping. It's not what I wanted. If we can't get along for ten minutes then maybe we need a little bit of a break, right?"

He turned to Mike.

"Mike, why don't you check out the guest cabin, the one I told you about."

Mike agreed before holding out his hand for Jess to take it.

"Want to go do that?" He asked her.

"Any place without that whore," she replied, pointing to Emily.

"It's right up the trail," Josh told Mike and Jess.

Mike and Jess walked out of the lodge before I turned to Josh who walked up to Imi who was still holding her cheek in shock.

"Are you okay?" he asked her while he comforted her.

"I think so," she replied. "Maybe I deserved it for being brave enough to walk into a catfight."

I shook my head in disagreement, still hating what I saw between three women.

"No you don't," Josh disagreed. "I get why Jess doesn't like you that much but she just needs to ease off on you."

She nodded before he turned to the fire place.

I sighed in relief, happy that now the catfight was done.

"Glad that's over."

I then turned to Josh who was trying to get the fire going.

"So, Josh, Uh..." I said awkwardly, knowing that he didn't like me very much at all but I didn't want it to end in a conflict. "Should we get this fire going?"

Before Josh could answer, Emily of course had to interrupt.

"Where's my bag?" she asked.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"My bag! The little bag worn the pink pattern, the one I got on Rodeo."

I sighed, not wanting to hear another word about Emily's shopping trips. They would get annoying.

"Matt, are you listening?" she continued. "Oh my god, don't you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got the stilettos and you knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?"

"Well, I mean, she was asking about my letter jacket-"

"Right, because she gave a shit about your "designer" letter jacket."

"Why do you hate my jacket?"

"Matt, I need my bag!"

"Oh my god Em," I sighed, wanting it to end already. "May be you just forgot it-"

"Do you seriously think I'd forget my bag?" she protested.

"Well, I-"

"Do you?"

"Guess not."

"You must've left it down by the cable car station."

"Ugh!" I sighed.

"Come on hun, we'll be back soon."

We were just about to leave until I had one final question for Emily.

"And then we can warm?"

"We can get very warm," she smiled before we headed out of the lodge.

"Let's go," I said.

I followed her out of the lodge to go find her bag.

*Imi's POV*

I walked over to Josh to help him with the fire, hoping to do something that would distract me over what just happened.

I turned to the others briefly when I saw Sam stand up from where she was sitting.

"Okay, I'm gonna go take a bath," she sighed as she walked upstairs, leaving just me, Josh, Ashley and Chris.

I was just about to turn back to the fire until Josh turned to me, concerned.

"Fuck!" he whispered furiously. "I should've intervened sooner. Your cheek is pretty red. Hopefully it'll heal up. I'll make sure Jess apologizes to you when we see her again."

I nodded before turning back to the fire, hoping to get done with it.


	11. Romantic Needs

*Mike's POV*

I sighed as Jess and I got out of the lodge and out to the balcony that was covered by a roof.

"Exiled," I breathed.

"Sexiled," Jess smirked.

I laughed a bit at Jess' joke, obviously knowing that she was anxious for it.

"Works for me," I agreed.

Jess shivered a bit, I could tell that she wasn't too fond of the cold but I would be determined to find this cabin.

"How far is this "cabin" anyway?" Jess asked as she looked around.

"This cabin is the coziest, most romantic, love den toy will ever lay your eyes upon," I replied kindly.

"If we ever make it," Jess laughed.

I gave her a flirtatious look then smiled.

"I have a feeling luck's on our side," I began.

"Play your cards right and maybe you will get lucky," Jess said flirtatiously as she took my hand.

"Hey porn stars!" We were interrupted by Josh. "You're gonna need these."

He threw a key to us then Jess successfully caught it.

"Porn star?" Jess wondered.

"I'd pay to see it," Josh laughed.

"Uh, gross," Jess grimaced.

Josh laughed a little then nodded to us.

"Sorry to kick you out like that-"

"No worries man," I reassured him.

"Oh I'm side you'll find a way to entertain yourselves," Josh replied.

Jess nodded in agreement with him and I did the same.

"You have fun with the peanut gallery," she said.

Josh was just about to get into the lodge until he stopped again.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "Gotta fire up the generator so that you can see where you're going. It's dark out."

I nodded to Josh before he walked inside of the lodge.

"I think Josh was flirting with me," Jess laughed.

I disagreed with her. As far as I was concerned, I knew that Josh liked Imi more than any of the other girls he met.

"Mmkay," I replied hesitantly. "You want to invite him up with us?"

"Really?" Jess' eyes widened with surprise.

"No," I shook my head. "I mean, I don't know if you heard but he likes Imi. He has this crush on her."

Jess grimaced at my words, probably not happy about it.

"Why does he like like whore?" She asked. "I mean, I know she isn't as bad as Emily but still."

"Just ease up on Imi, okay?" I protested. "She's been through a lot. She lost one of her best friends and really hasn't been herself ever since."

Jess seemed to agree before we headed down the stairs and out to the snow. It was quite nice out here even though the atmosphere made it seem a little unsettling.

I noticed that Jess stopped by a tree so I walked to her to see what was up.

"Hey hot lips," she teased. "Photo booth?"

I nodded as she handed me her phone for us to take a selfie. I held the phone and took a bit of time for us to adjust before I snapped the shot.

After we were finished, I smiled as I handed Jess' phone back to her.

"Oh my god," she squealed. "This is perfect! We're like the cutest couple!"

I definitely didn't disagree with her. She was definitely good looking as well.

"Damn," I smiled. "You should be a model."

She nodded in agreement.

"You keep that camera handy and maybe I'll let you start my portfolio at the cabin," she replied while placing a hand on my arm, smiling flirtatiously.

"Wink noted," I laughed.

We continued down the path just before I saw Jess shiver.

"Brrr, it is freezing out here," she complained.

Poor Jess but I knew I had a way to keep her warm and I hoped that time would come soon.

"Now that's something I can help you with," I suggested.

"And how are you gonna do that?" she questioned.

"I got a few things in mind," I answered.

We continued down the path again until once again, Jess stopped and I stopped too to see what was up.

"Emily's as dumb as she looks if she thinks she can cut in on what we got going on," she grumbled. "Maybe if we're lucky, she'll try and follow us out here and get eaten by a bear."

I definitely agreed with her for the most part except for the "being eaten by a bear" part. It brought an unsettling chill down my spine and I honestly didn't want any kind of misfortune towards my friends but at the same time, I did kinda get her point.

"I think you bring out the worst in her," I agreed.

"Is that so."

"Epic jealously."

"Suck it."

We continued to walk, eagerly hoping to find the cabin soon. I definitely felt the chill from the cold but I didn't want it to slow me down.

I wanted to show Jess that I was a tough man because at least many women love tough men, right?

We turned to the right then saw a small shed there with a desk or something? Must've been the generator that Josh was talking about.

I got closer to it then opened the door and sure enough, it was the generator.

I smiled before I turned on a switch, causing a yellow light to emit.

"Boom, nice one Mikey," I congratulated myself.

I turned my direction to another part that must've been for the generator as well. I noticed something, like something out of lawn mower.

I figured that I had to pull so I pulled it twice until I saw a light come on. I felt pretty proud of myself.

"Woo, you are a wizard!" Jess exclaimed happily.

We walked to the gate as I went to press a button, letting a green light emit, possibly signaling me that I could finally open the gate. I pulled up the handle then pushed the gate open.

"Kazam," I said. "The gates shall open."

I let Jess through first before I did then closed the gate behind me.

I noticed Jess pulled out her phone then turned on the music.

"Pretty good, huh?" She asked as she skipped a bit.

"Yeah, totally," I agreed. "This is awesome."

"Awwww yeah, I bring the hits!" She smiled.

I smiled back as we continued our way to the cabin. We went over a bridge and then finally back on the snow.

"You psyched yet?" Jess asked. "You don't look psyched."

"I am so psyched right now!" I replied.

"It's like a little adventure," she joked. "A sexcapade."

I laughed a little at her joke as we continued down this cold path. I was beginning to hope we would get there soon, considering the fact that I was getting cold here.

Jess stopped looking at something in confusion. I stopped as well just to see what was up.

"Police tape?" Jess wondered.

"For Hannah and Beth," I replied.

"You'd think they'd clean it up?" She asked.

"Well, they never closed the investigation," I replied sadly.

Jess looked a little unsettled at what I was saying.

"Okay, I'm getting the creeps now," she shuddered.

My heart sank when a flood of memories came rushing back into my head. It had been a year ago since everything happened. I only hoped that Hannah and Beth were at peace.

"Well, wherever they are," I whispered, the sadness in my voice clearly evident. "I'm sure they're all happy we're all thinking about them."

Jess gave a small smile before saying anything.

"That's a nice way of thinking about it," she replied as we continued our way to the cabin.

As we were finished walking up some stairs, I heard a loud scream that must've come from somewhere in the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Jess asked, scared.

"I heard...something," I muttered.

We decided to brush it off then continued to make our way to the cabin, wherever it is.

I was definitely feeling cold but I refused to let that stop me or else I would worry that Jess would think I was weak.

After we walked up some stairs, I noticed that the rest of the path was blocked off by a rubble of rocks and fallen trees.

"Oh damn," I muttered. "I don't think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this-"

"Oh no way am I going back to the lodge aka wax museum to drink hot chocolate with Emily," Jess protested. "You know what? Fuck it. We're adventurous. We will find another way around."

I didn't say anything else as we headed to the right too where it looked like it was probably a mine.

I guessed Jess didn't see where she was going because she broke a fence that blocked it then screamed as she fell down into the mine.

"Jess!" I cried, worriedly. "Fuck! Hey Jessica!"

"Yep!" I heard her reply, signaling me that she was okay. "Hey, I'm okay!"

Oh thank goodness she was alive! I didn't know what I would do if she wasn't alive.

"Holy crap you scared the heck out of me," I tried to catch my breath.

"How do you think I felt?" Jess argued.

I examined her a bit, wondering if she broke a bone or something.

"Er, you didn't hit your head or anything?" I asked.

"As far as I can tell I still have all seven of my limbs!" She replied back.

I laughed a bit before nodding to her that I understood her.

"Yeah, can you get out?"

"Uhh, I don't know. I can hardly see anything down here."

I took a deep breath and considered my options before making my decision.

"Alright, comin' after ya," I called out to her. "Just stay put!"

I got down then jumped down to the mine to join Jess.

I noticed there was a minecart in the way of the path.

"Hey handsome, wanna help me move this cart thing?" Jess asked.

I nodded before turning my direction to the cart to push it. I used as much effort as I could but the cart proved to outmatch me. I grumbled in annoyance before turning to Jess.

"Help me move it," I panted. "Help me move it."

Jess nodded as she went to place her hands on the cart as we pushed it with all of the strength that we had. We finally got it moving out of the way as I sighed in relief.

"When I imagined us grunting together," I laughed. "This is not what I pictured."

Jess laughed and I couldn't blame her for doing so.

"Unlike us, I think Imi would push this thing with maybe the same amount of effort by herself," I added. "Trust me. That girl has some serious boulder shoulder stuff going on."

"I agree," Jess nodded. "She's built like a machine. I'll always remember that time when she carried you, Matt, Chris and Josh bridal style to the living room two years ago after you guys were passed out drunk."

I laughed at the memory. I could suddenly imagine how it would be if Imi came with us but at the same time, maybe it was a good thing that she didn't come.

We continued to walk down the mine until we heard a chain break. A minecart was coming straight for us, fast.

Jess got out of the way as I began to push the minecart in hope it make it slow down and it worked. It finally stopped before I let go of the cart then got up to join Jess.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm fine."

We continued our way through the mine that I had no idea was here.

"Whoa nellie," I heard Jess say nervously. "This place is givin' me the willies. And not the good kind of willies."

"Can I offer you a little comfort and reassurance?" I offered.

"Save it for the cabin, Buster," she replied.

We walked up a good while of stairs before we walked up to what it looked like to be some sort of Native American stuff.

I picked up a what it looked like to be a recent cigar stub. I eyed it curiously, wondering what it was doing here.

I put the stub down before turning to the Native American stuff. I noticed a Native American symbol on it. I eyed it, curiosity hitting me like a punch. It had to be Native American. Whatever miners were down here obviously didn't mess with it, right?

We continued our way down until a part of whatever held up the mine fell down, causing us to jump. It was a close one. I looked up then saw that this place didn't look very pretty.

We walked ahead until I noticed something on a table. I decided to go check it out. It looked like it was a danger map. I gasped in shock at it. It scared me, thinking I could possibly die down here.

We continued to make our way down the mine until I noticed a hint of white. I was beginning to hope that we were gonna make it outside.

"Finally!" Jess sighed of relief. "A little ray of hope."

I definitely didn't disagree with her. After those horrors in the mines, I was definitely ready to be out of here.

We continued to walk out to the snow and down the path.

We walked up some stairs with a sign that said "cabin" pointing to the direction where Jess and I were heading. I smiled as I continued up the stairs.

"Well well," Jess smirked. "When Josh said "cabin" I thought like Abe Lincoln."

I smiled a bit at her joke and couldn't help but joke back at her.

"Wait'll you see the Lincoln Bedroom," I replied.

"Oh, are you planning on getting presidential on me?"

"Wanna take a ride on Air Force One?"

"Save it for the stump beach, buddy," Jess insisted.

We noticed a telescope and Jess got excited.

"Ooh, a telescope!"

She ran to it to look through it, possible to find anything interesting.

"Gonna look at the trees, gonna look at the clouds, gonna look at the cabi-"

She suddenly jumped, looked confused and startled then looked through the telescope again.

"I just saw someone at the cabin," she whispered nervously.

I went ahead and checked on the telescope to see if there was anything interesting. Suddenly, an awful looking face came in front, causing me to jump. I was definitely wondering what it was.

I went to what it looked like a billboard that showed three animals that were likely to show up here.

"Jess?" I called to her. "Stay close by, okay? There's this posting that says there's some brown bears up here sometimes."

"Oh Michael," she said to me, sounding quite giddy. "I have the best idea! Let's go hug a bear!"

I shook my head and shuddered. Just why?

"No," I protested. "Let's Not hug a bear."

We walked to a gate as I opened it then let Jess through before I went through and closed it.

We went down some stairs until a bird jumped out to scare us.

"Watch out bird-brain," Jess said.

"I was just answering its mating call," I replied.

"Whoa, you're easy."

"Yeah, got a lotta love to give."

I looked down a bit.

"I was scared," I whispered.

We continued to make our way to the cabin through the freezing cold weather that we had to deal with.

We went through a bridge before going through the snow.

I suddenly noticed more rubble was blocking the path to go to the cabin. I was getting a bit annoyed at this point with Josh.

"Goddammit Josh," I whispered. "Couldn't you have at least cleared out the path before sending us up here?"

"Really?" Jess questioned.

"What?"

"I didn't figure you for the glass half empty type."

"You gotta better idea?"

"Stand back Debbie Downer."

Jess ran to the rubble then climbed up. Oh wow.

"Show off," I said.

"Hey Mike," she joked. "You got something on your face!"

I went to check it until I felt a snowball hit my face. I was ready for revenge. I went to pick up a snowball, hoping to be able to get Jess back.

"Well," I began. "If that's how it's gonna be."

I suddenly noticed that Jess was gone. Where was she?

"Jess?"

A scream suddenly was heard through possibly the other side of the rubble.

"Jess?" I cried, uncertain and scared about what possible fate laid for her.


	12. Fixing Scares

*Sam's POV*

I was in the bathroom, trying to get on the hot water, or should I say, trying to work the water in the bathtub on a whole.

"Sammy!" I heard Josh call to me.

"What?" I asked.

"You wanna help us get this fire going?"

"Uh, well, I was just getting into the bath!"

"Oh, do you need any help with that?"

"Hardy har!"

I turned back to the bathtub to try to turn on the hot water. The problem was that when I trying to get the hot water on, there was no hot water. It was just icy cold water. Ugh!

"Alright Josh!" I called while turning off the water. "Let's see if you know how to hook up the hot water in your big fancy lodge!"

I turned to leave the bathroom to head to find Josh.

I stopped at a hall when I heard some strange sounds that I didn't hear of before.

"What was that?" I wondered.

I turned to my left to then walked up to some stairs to suddenly recognize which room I was walking into.

"Wow," I breathed. "All Hannah's stuff."

I first looked at Hannah's desk and saw a business card on there. It looked like a tattoo business card. So this was linked to Hannah getting a tattoo. The question was why did she get a tattoo?

I put the business card then suddenly stumbled upon a large box with Hannah's initials. I opened the box to see there was Hannah's bracelets inside along with a ballerina going in circles. I smiled at this. I obviously knew it was from Josh. He must've loved his sisters that much.

It was playing the one song that Hannah loved, Freres Jacques. I couldn't help but feel sad for Josh. I had been Josh's support system for his loss, especially over Hannah while Imi did the same thing, especially over Beth.

I closed the music box then walked to find anything interesting when I stumbled across an invitation from Mike. I lifted it up to see a picture of Mike there.

"Gee Hannah," I said. "Crush much...?"

I was fully aware of her crush on Mike and it made me feel a bit more sad for Hannah.

I put down the paper I was holding up then headed to an area of the room and suddenly saw a piece of what looked like a magazine. I picked it up and saw a heart with: _MM &HW_

"Hello, could this be any more about "Mike"?" I wondered.

I turned over the piece then saw "Mostly C's" circled. It mentioned that it wasn't going to work and that Hannah should do something crazy like get a tattoo to catch his attention.

Damn!

I walked out of the area then walked past Hannah's bed then came across her nightstand. On it showed a postcard of some sort.

I instantly recognized it. It was an invitation to Josh, Hannah and Beth to my Halloween party from well over a year ago.

I went down the hall then opened the door then continued down the hall when I heard some voices.

"Come on." Josh.

"My goodness, it needs to work!" Imi.

"How long do you think it'll take them?" Chris.

"My money's on blankets for everyone." Ashley.

"You can do it you two," Chris chanted.

"Yeah, woohoo!" Ashley cheered. "Let's go Josh and Imi let's go."

I continued to head down to the stairs. I just kept hearing their voices getting closer.

"Alright peanut gallery," Josh said. "You know what? I got an idea for you two."

"What?" Ashley asked.

"Okay well, I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have a spirit board," Josh replied.

"Wow, you have a spirit board?" Chris asked.

"You mean like have a seance?" Ashley asked.

I continued downstairs then slowly made my way to the four people in the living room.

I noticed that Chris, Ashley, Josh and Imi all took off their coats. Josh was in a plaid shirt over a brown long sleeved top.

Imi had on a black hooded jacket over a dark blue v-neck t-shirt. Her jacket was zipped up to just below her breast line. Her black yoga pants that was just down to her knees was most noticeable against her petite and buff figure.

I turned to Chris who had on a green jacket over two shirts. How many layers does this guy have?

Then I turned to Ashley who was down in her light blue/grey hoodie over a long sleeved red top.

Now this was pretty interesting to see them out of their coats.

"Those things are a joke man," Chris brushed it off. "They don't do shit."

"No way bro," Josh protested. "We used to do it all the time. Me and... well-"

"Hey Josh!" I interrupted. "No hot water's kinda major oversight doncha think?"

Josh nodded to me.

"Yeah, yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler," he explained. "It's in the basement."

I shook my head, already having a bad feeling about going into the basement.

"I'm not going down there," I said. "You can take Imi down with you."

He nodded before turning to Chris and Ashley.

"Alright you guys see if you can find the spirit board," he instructed them.

Ashley was the first to stand up, looking excited.

"Come on Chris," she said excitedly. "Let's go find it! It'll be like a scavenger hunt."

Chris stood up then followed her, looking a little uncertain.

"Well, I guess so," he said as he continued to followed Ashley.

"Rad, you're not gonna regret it," Josh replied jokingly.

He turned to me, looking slightly concerned.

"You sure you want to stay behind?" he asked.

"Yes," I nodded. "I don't feel comfortable going down a creepy basement. I'm sure Imi will be able to help you with that. She sure as a boulder shoulder for that."

We laughed before I took a seat at the stairs to wait as I watched Josh turned to Imi.

"You up for a ride along?" he asked her.

She nodded in agreement, rather nervously since I was aware of her slight fear of the dark but I was sure that Josh would be there to protect her.

I also secretly hoped this would be a moment for them to get together and for Josh to at least get closer to admitting his feelings for her. I knew he kept them from her because we both knew that she was shy young woman. I just hoped he would do it.

*Imi's POV*

I felt bad for leaving Sam to wait at the stairs but if she didn't want to go down the basement, I didn't want to argue with her. I already went through enough shit with Jessica and I had no desire to get into another fight.

I followed Josh downstairs, taking deep breaths to calm myself down because the dark was giving me a feeling of coldness that was trying to pull me under its current.

"Hey," Josh said as he took out a flashlight from the drawer. "You notice how I gave Chris and Ash a mission together? I was thinking they could use some alone time."

I nodded but I hoped he knew how I was about it because out of me, Josh and Sam, I was the one who would never tease anyone about it.

"They are sweet together," I replied. "I understand that they're a little slow in getting closer but when you have a crush who happens to be your best friend, you're afraid to break the friendship bond. I only want what's best for them."

Josh placed a hand on my shoulder then smiled at me, seemingly understanding my point. He knew me that I refused to tease anyone nor try to rush Chris and Ashley into a relationship.

"Don't worry," he reassured me. "I swear, they need like something to bond over, you know? Some kind of traumatic event to send them into each other's arms."

My eyes widened in shock, noticing something about that sounded off. It scared me a little bit Josh kept his hand on my shoulder.

"At this rate, they'll be in the geriatric wars before Chris makes a move," he continued.

I gasped, almost panicking internally but Josh seemed to notice my concern as he placed his free hand that he had on my shoulder around my arm.

"Shhh," he whispered. "There's nothing to worry about. I know you're a little scared but if anything tries to get you, I'll have your back."

I smiled, feeling a little better as he led me to the door then opened it, waiting for me to come in like the gentleman that he always was.

"You know, Imi?" he began.

"Yes Josh?" I answered.

"I just wanted to say... it really means a lot to me that everyone came back this year and you know, that you came, Imi."

I took a deep breath before answering him.

"Josh, we all stand by you man," I replied, sounding rather sad. "We'll make it through it all, together."

He nodded then placed his free hand on my shoulder again.

"I want us to have a good time, you know?" he said. "And I'll do the same for you and everyone else. Just know that you and I aren't alone in our sorrow."

I nodded before we headed down the stairs and up to the basement.

"Hey, watch your step," Josh warned.

"These stairs aren't exactly a match for me," I replied jokingly.

I followed him down then saw him open the doors to the boiler.

"Sorry to drag you down into the bowels," he apologized.

"Dude, Sammy Boo needs her hot water," I replied. "You know, us women don't like to bathe in cold water."

"I mean, I wouldn't want you coming down here on your own," Josh corrected. "Even though you've been down here many times."

"I don't blame you man," I replied. "I can say it is indeed creepy down here. I'm feeling pretty cold here too."

Josh nodded in agreement. I have been to this lodge many times ever since I was pretty much a baby and down to the basement many times as well but it was still creepy.

"Not a place to be on your own," Josh replied, placing a hand on my bare chest, feeling my heartbeat.

I nodded as he let go of me then turned to the machine when I noticed a baseball bat there. What in the world?

"How did this get here?" I wondered. "Let me guess, it's yours, right?"

"You bet its mine," he replied, taking the bat from my hand. "I used to play with my Dad all the time. Of course that was before he got too busy to hang out with me."

I watched him put the bat down and I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I knew his father very well and he took a good liking to me, happy that I was there to be with him. He often considered me as like another sister to Josh.

"Oh well, save it for the couch, right?" Josh continued.

I still felt bad for him with his parents never being home. I remembered when I leaned onto him for support after losing my mother because a monster I knew very well about killed her. We basically now reversed rolls.

Me losing my mother had happened two years ago. I could see that Josh and I were easy to relate to each other, losing family members that we became so close to.

"Okay, let me see what I can do with this old hot water machine," he said quietly as he walked to the machine.

He quickly turned to me, as if he wanted to tell me something briefly.

"Can you hold this?" he asked as he handed me the flashlight.

I nodded just when I heard fast footsteps. It startled me for a bit.

"I heard something," I said.

Josh looked around a bit confused but he turned back to the machine.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just shine the flashlight here so I can see what I'm doing."

I nodded then stood as still as possible, almost on the verge of holding my breath while Josh was fixing up the machine.

After ten seconds, he finished up fixing the machine.

"Nice one," he commented.

"Okay, first things first, we gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up," he explained.

"I'm on it," I replied. "I know exactly what to do."

Josh smiled as I went to the boiler machine.

I remembered learning how to work these hot water machines from my father. It was actually easier than I thought it was when I first learned how to work it.

I turned on the switch, waited patiently for the red light to turn on then pressed the button quickly, causing a noise to be heard, likely the hot water machine finally turning on.

"That's more like it!" he said happily as I turned to him. "Five girl!"

He held up his hand for me to high five him then I instantly gave him a high five. This was glorious.

"That's my girl," he smiled as he gently patted me on the back. "I almost forgot you knew how to work these things."

I smiled at him as I watched him close the doors to the hot water machine.

I suddenly heard something strange. I turned to see what it was but couldn't figure out what it was.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Could be a lot of things," he replied. "None of them nice."

He made a little spider crawl with his fingers, causing me to jump a bit.

"Seriously dude," I laughed.

"I'm just Joshing you," he replied, laughing.

I laughed back, not wanting to hold back my laugh at his joke.

"You were really freaked out," he joked.

He was definitely the prank master and I thought maybe I could give him a bit of payback.

"Oh my god," I gasped in fear. "Don't move."

"What?" he asked.

"There's something behind you," I gasped, the fear in my eyes clearly real.

"Yeah right," Josh said.

I shook my head, fear still in my eyes, trying to convince him.

"No, seriously Josh," I whispered, now slowly backing away. "There's something back there."

He turned to see what was behind him but I knew I was only doing this to get him back.

"I gotcha bro," I laughed.

"You got me good," he replied. "You're pretty good with acting scared when you're quite brave to be honest."

"I thank you," I smiled.

Before I could say another word, I felt his lips press against my forehead. I blushed a little, unsure why he did it.

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while," he said. "I have a thing for you. I'm just so easily fascinated by you."

I knew it! I knew why he did it. I was never aware of this but I didn't care how late he wanted to tell me.

"Josh, I'll be honest," I replied. "I like you more than Mike. I like Mike but I know I'm not his type. You, on the on hand, can easily relate to me with many things. We can count on each other."

We both smiled just before something else interrupted us. It was some kind of banging sound, almost like a bell on a tower. It was creepy though.

"Josh?" I tried to get his attention.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The rhythm is oddly regular," I replied nervously.

"Nothing regular about it," he said but he sounded uncertain.

I weighed my options, wondering if I should check it out myself or have Josh come with me.

"I think I'll go check it out," I suggested.

Josh seemed to be a bit concerned, part because he was aware of my slight fear of the dark but with a flashlight on me, I felt safe. I was also brave for the most part so I didn't mind.

"It's for the best," I replied. "You can hold the fort while I make sure."

"Your say, madam," Josh agreed as I went to go check to find the source of the sound but I was cut short when an unknown figure wearing a robe with a hockey mask jumped at me, causing me to jump and scream.

Josh and I ran out of the basement, terrified.

"Whoa, Imi!"

I quickly pushed down something to make the unknown person trip over it.

Josh and I quickly ran up the stairs then stopped at the door as I tried to get it open but it was locked. Now I was certain that we would die in the basement and I actually had a fear of death.

"For real! Why are these doors locked?!" I cried.

"To keep out strangers!" Josh shouted as he placed an arm in front of me to protect me.

There was the figure that was just standing there.

"Hey," he said in a low voice.

"What?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"Hey," the figure said again.

"Um..." I began.

"Boom," I suddenly recognized who it was when the figure took off the hood he had on.

"You just got monked," Chris teased.

I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that he got me really good.

"I'll admit, that was a good one," I smiled at him. "You got me good."

"Nice!" Josh laughed. "Nice one. That was good. That was too good."

Chris and Josh high fived each other then Chris turned to me as I high fived him back.

Chris opened the basement door for us three to get back into the lodge.

I noticed Sam standing up from her seat as I walked to her to give her the good news.

"We finally got your hot water working," I told her.

She smiled at me as I went to Josh's side.

Ashley stood up from her seat then walked up to Chris, looking confused.

"What in gods name are you wearing?" she asked.

"I found my true calling," Chris said as he did the sign of the cross to Ashley then did prayer hands as he bowed down.

"Please tell me you're gonna take a vow of silence," she replied, also doing prayer hands.

Chris was mouthing to her silently before she nodded.

"Okay okay," she said. "Did you at least find the thingy?"

Chris pulled a box out of the robe that he was wearing, likely the spirit board.

"Boi-oi-oi-oing," he said. "Here's our one way ticket spirit realm."

I turned to Sam who shook her head. I could already see why.

"No thank you," she replied. "I see a hot bath in my crystal ball so have fun."

She walked upstairs to where she wanted to see.

"Just a little warning," I announced. "Josh is quite the schemer."

"Okay," Josh laughed.

Now I was ready to summon ghosts and that and hopefully nothing too freaky would happen.


	13. Hauntings

*Ashley's POV*

Josh, Imi, Chris and I were getting settled in for the seance that Josh wanted us to do. I was uncertain why he'd want to do a seance but I went with it without question.

Chris looked like he was reading something out of the instructions or something.

"So it says here: to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the spirit master" which is me-"

"It doesn't say that," I interrupted.

"And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion-"

"Chris come on, this is serious-" Josh protested.

"Oh I am deadly serious," Chris laughed, doing a British impression.

"Oh shush it," I said. "Let's try this."

"Knock it off you dork face," Imi said, lightly elbowing him in the arm.

I smile at her as we prepared ourselves for what could happen.

"Let's see what happens," Chris said as all four of us placed our fingers on the spirit board.

Chris turned to me with a smile on his face, like he wanted me on duty for something.

"Ashley, since you're a recent convert," he said. "Why don't you be our medium for today."

I nodded before I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what I was about to get myself into.

"Alright, is anyone there?" I called. "Will you reveal yourself to us if you're there?"

I took a deep breath, not sure what was going to happen next until I felt the pointer starting to move. I was startled at the sensation.

"Wait a minute-" Chris laughed.

"Did you do that?" Josh asked, looking concerned.

"I didn't do anything!" I insisted.

"It's moving again," Chris replied, almost laughing as if he weren't taking it seriously.

"I thinks it's legit moving guys," Imi whispered.

I felt the pointer suddenly making its way to one of the letters.

"H." I gasped, shocked to see that maybe this was probably real.

"What's it's spelling?" Josh wanted to know. "How's this happening?"

"Are you moving it?" Chris asked me.

"I swear it's just moving," I replied nervously.

"This ain't gonna end well," Imi admitted.

"Holy shit," Josh whispered, agony clearly on his face.

"'Help?'" I wondered.

"How are we suppose to help?" Chris seemed curious.

"I don't know!" I answered. "What does it mean?"

"We need to know who it is if we're suppose to help them," Chris said.

I considered my options on whether to ask or to ask what help they needed before making my decision.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Silence filled the entire room before I suddenly felt the pointer under my hand starting to move again.

I heard Josh shudder and I could tell that this wouldn't end well for him.

"Here it goes," Imi gasped.

We all knew we would have to say what it was trying to spell.

"S." Josh

"I." Me.

"S." Chris

"T." Imi.

"E." Josh.

"R." Me.

"Sister!" I gasped. "Sister."

"Whose sister?" Josh gasped, looking scared before he turned to Imi, probably for support.

"Oh come on is this for real?" Chris was shaking his head.

"Knock it off you butt nugget!" Imi snapped at him, kicking him lightly at the leg with her foot.

"Shut up you two!" Josh snapped at both Chris and Imi before turning to me. "Ask It whose sister."

I shook my head, knowing exactly what the spirit board was trying to tell us. Out of all of us, Josh was the one who really involved his siblings with us. The rest of us either didn't involve them in or we happened to be the only child.

"Josh," I protested. "It's gotta be..."

"Yeah?" Josh seemed to understand but the agony on his face didn't subside. "Okay. Which sister is it then?"

"Ask who it is Ashley," Chris instructed.

I took a deep breath before asking who I thought it must've been that was talking to us.

"Who are we speaking to?" I asked. "Hannah? Is that you?"

The pointer began to move upward to the "yes" on the board.

I definitely wasn't holding back the fear that crept up in me along with the shivers that ran up to my spine. I was definitely not liking this at all.

"Oh god!" I gasped.

Chris looked like he was just in a bad dream, trying hard to brush it off.

"This is messed up," he commented.

I turned to Josh who didn't change his expression. I was starting to grow concerned for him.

"Josh?" I asked. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," he interrupted.

"Are you sure because we can stop-"

"No."

"Dude," Chris chimed in. "It's cool-"

"I want to hear what it says," Josh insisted.

"If you don't feel okay, you can "bye Felicia" to it-" Imi offered.

"Don't worry," he interrupted her. "I'm fine. If I need anything, you'll be the first to know. I just want to continue with this."

I felt bad for Josh but if he was so insistent to continue, I didn't want to argue with him.

"I don't know where to start," I began.

"Think about it," Chris replied. "If this is actually Hannah, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."

I didn't like the sound of it at all but I knew I had to. Just for extra approval, I turned to Josh.

"Josh?" I tried to say.

"I can handle it," he replied, his voice was shaking.

I tried to collect my thoughts together, wondering what I should say now.

"Hannah," I said. "We miss you. And we want to know what happened to you."

I was starting to tremble slightly just when the pointer began to move again.

"B," I spelt out. "E, T, R..."

"Uh oh," Chris whispered.

"I don't like this," I shook my head.

"This is freaky," Imi commented. "It spelling betrayed."

"What does she mean-" Josh began.

"It's still going!" Chris gasped.

I couldn't hold back the shock and fear that was clearly shown on my face. Please don't tell me...

"K," I continued. "I, L, L, E, D. No!"

The panic was building up inside me. It was just a prank, unfortunately a prank gone wrong! I mean, I would've thought that Hannah would run back inside of her room to cry but this was too much for me to handle.

"Killed?" Josh questioned.

"No we didn't kill them!" I cried, panicking. "It was just a prank!"

"Ash, calm down," Chris tried to reassure me. "We need to find out more."

I was trying to apologize to possibly Hannah who was likely speaking to us.

"Guys, what do they mean?" Josh wanted to find out.

"That's what we're trying to find out!" Imi cried, slightly shuddering.

I was shaking my head, still in panic mode and not liking this at all but Chris turned to me, trying to stop my panicked state of mind.

"Ask them what happened, Ash!" he insisted.

I tried to keep my composure, not wanting to lose it in front of Chris, Josh and Imi. I had to continue. I wasn't going to turn back now.

"Hannah?" I asked. "Who killed you? Hannah, who was it?"

I suddenly felt the pointer began to move again and I was definitely panicking now.

"L," I spelt out. "I, B-"

"Library?" Chris wondered. "Maybe there's something in the library-"

The pointer continued to move and I was sure it was about to snap at us.

"P, R, O, O-"

"Proof!" Chris answered. "There's proof!"

"In The library?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer, the board began to shake and the pointer was about to take off.

"Watch out!" Josh cried.

Imi, Chris and I all screamed when the pointer moved right off the table by itself.

I stood up from my seat while Imi nearly fell off of her seat but Josh caught her just in time. I noticed that he was trying to hold her in a protective manner.

"Holy shit!" I cried, hanging my head in my hands. "Chris?"

I turned to Josh who was shaking his head as he stood up from his seat, still hugging Imi in a protective manner.

"You know what?" he shuddered. "No, this is bullshit. This isn't real-"

I shook my head knowing that I had to tell him otherwise.

"Josh!" I protested. "I don't know what's going on!"

"Listen," he replied, sounding furious. "I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me deal with my grief or whatever but this is not cool! How the hell does that make poor Imi feel when she ran out there in the goddamn snow, injured and nearly died trying to save them-"

"Josh, I'm fine," Imi cried. "Trust me!"

"Josh, you wanted to use the spirit board!" I protested.

"Calm down man," Chris tried to butt in. "It's not Ash's fault!"

Josh stormed from his seat, taking Imi with him but she looked like she was resisting.

"No Josh," she protested. "I'm going to help them! Take some time to yourself!"

He reluctantly let go of her hand before passing by me and Chris.

"I don't need this right now, okay?" Josh shouted. "You guys are full of it!"

Without another word, he stormed out of the room, leaving me, Chris and Imi there. Well, he almost took Imi with him but it seemed like she wanted to help us find the proof. Then again, she had been to the lodge for years.

"Should we go after him?" I asked.

"He'll be okay," Chris replied calmly. "Give him some time."

"That's why I decided to stay," Imi replied. "He needs some time to himself so I'm giving him that. But then again, that was crazy nugget balls! The pointer literally flew off the table!"

"If you were faking it, Ash," Chris said. "You were doing one hell of a job-"

"I wasn't faking anything!" I protested. "We should do what it says. We should look in the library."

Chris and Imi seemed to agree and now it was time for us to face what kind of proof the spirit board was trying to give us.


	14. Advances

*Mike's POV*

I was starting to worry. My mind was racing, trying to process what had happened.

Where the hell was Jess?

I climbed over the rubble as quickly as I could but my foot slipped on the snow, nearly making me fall but I kept steady as I pulled myself up to the top of it.

"Fuck nuggets!" I cursed to myself.

I stood up before jumping down to the ground then continued my search for Jess. In the back of my mind, I knew this had to be a joke on Jess' end.

I still went to look for her, hoping to find any sign of her and where she went.

"Jess," I said, obviously not sounding scared. "Where did you go?"

No sign of her. Dammit!

"This is not funny!"

This obviously had to be some kind of prank that Jess had in store for me but the more I thought about that, the more worried I was getting.

I suddenly saw an abandoned truck just there. I grew curious about why it was just there.

I walked to the truck as my heart skipped a beat. I was scared for Jess. I didn't even know where she was but I was determined to find her.

"Jess?" I called as I peered in through the window of the truck. "Buddy? You in there?"

I tried to open the door of the truck but it was locked. Shit!

I was just beginning to consider my options about possibly breaking the windows to find Jess but instead, I was greeted by a skeleton head that came up to the window out of nowhere with some sort of banging/ding sound.

The sound and the look of the skeleton scared me, causing me to scream and jump as I clutched my hand to my chest, trying to catch my breath.

"That scared the blue outta my jeans," I muttered under my breath. "What the hell was that doing in there?

After I took a moment to collect my composure after that jump scare, I walked away from the truck then continued my mission to find Jess.

I continued down the path, wheezing my eyes all over the place, also with my flashlight in hand, trying to move it around to find any sign of her.

"Jess? Hun? I won't kill you if you-"

Of course my words were cut off when it looked like a deer's head jumped up to scare me. I screamed while backing away then heard laughing.

I was trying to catch my breath to see it was Jess that was behind it. Jess got me good but why in the world would she do that?

"That was so good!" she laughed as she walked over to a rock.

I was shaking my head when I noticed that she got her phone that was on the rock.

"Wait you have to see this!" she giggled.

"I'm not seeing anyth-no! No!" I protested.

"Look, no no no Mike!" Jess smirked, still laughing.

I peered over her phone when I saw exactly what I just experienced earlier. Just when I saw something jump in front of me, I saw myself scream and jump at what happened.

"You recorded that?" I was shocked.

"Look at your face!" Jess sniggered.

I shook my head again, maybe she could save scaring me like that for the cabin. Out here just didn't seem like a good place, right?

"I was scared Jess!" I tried to explain. "You can't just out at somebody! I'm in the middle of the woods, scary!"

"I'm sorry did I scare you?" Jess cooed as she laid a hand on my cheek.

"If you send that to anybody," I threatened.

"You'll What?"

"I'm...gonna...kill ya."

Jess was smiling as she was still laughing over what happened earlier.

"I didn't know you had such a cute lady-like scream, Michael," she giggled. "Guess you never really know until you've scared the pants off 'em."

So she thought I had a lady-like scream? I seemed rather amused at the comment.

To be honest, Jess got me good but maybe not enough to scare my pants off. I guess she tried.

"As far as I can tell, my pants are still on," I replied.

"Is that so?" she asked, her eyes lightening up.

"Yeah," I replied. "Looks like you'll have to try harder."

"A challenge, Eh?"

We then continued to walk down the path, enjoying our time together.

"Well I hope you're strapped in," Jess said. "Cause you're about to feel the force of my mind melting thrill skills."

I smiled at her just when I noticed something to my right. It was a tree with a carving of a heart and in it was _M &E._

I stared at it carefully, bringing in some serious memories. Jesus, things do change a lot.

"Look at this fun little lovebird carving," Jess commented. "An M and an E. Any idea what that could stand for?"

I took a moment to think about it. What did it stand for anyway?

"May Elizabeth and Myron."

"Or maybe Michael and Emily."

That stung me as I turned to Jess with a bit of a pained expression on my face but Jess looked like she was trying to reassure me.

"Oh relax," she said. "I just didn't realize you were so sappy. Pun intended."

Honestly, I could see Jess' point. Maybe I have been kind of a sap. I wasn't going to deny her like that.

"Hey I may look like a tough and rugged manly man on the exterior," I explained. "But deep down, I'm in touch with my feelings. I'm not afraid to show a little affection now and again."

"Oh yeah?" Jess replied. "You're gonna show me some affection later?"

"Girl, all kinds of affection."

"Is that a check I can cash?"

"Wink!"

"Let's go captain Nova."

We then went to the bridge as we saw a waterfall.

Of course Jess had to admire it but I didn't blame her. Despite that, I hated being out in the frigid cold. I just wanted to get to the cabin and cuddle up with her.

We then continued down the path after crossing the bridge when we suddenly heard a scream. I didn't know what it was but hearing the sound of it, it definitely didn't sound human.

We continued to walk down the path until I heard something in the distance.

"Shh," I hushed down Jess who seemed to be frightened. "Did you hear that?"

Jess seemed a bit unsettled, probably as much as I felt.

"Hello?" I called out, cupping my free hand over my mouth. "Someone there?"

I wasn't sure what was going on by without hesitation, I went to grab a snowball to maybe get the attention of whatever was hiding.

Suddenly, I felt a sinking urge that maybe I shouldn't. After all, I didn't want to get Jess upset if whatever was hiding ended up wanting to kill us. I just couldn't do it. I just stayed still as I could, still holding the snowball in my hands.

The tree began to tremble a bit from the wind until an elk came out, causing us both to jump back in surprise.

"That was a close one!" Jess exclaimed.

I definitely didn't disagree with her. I almost thought we were going to be killed but I didn't want to say anything to upset Jess so I kept my mouth shut.

We continued to walk down the path while occasionally hearing some strange sounds.

Dead ahead, I noticed a light which I supposed it belonged to a cabin. We got closer to it and saw it looked old and was falling apart.

"I love it!" Jess said but I was sure she was being sarcastic but I didn't say anything.

I walked inside of the cabin and noticed a gas mask on the table. I didn't want to pick it up because I was worried that I would scare Jess.

I shuddered at the mask just before I walked away from the cabin and down the path again, Jess at close proximity behind me.

We suddenly stopped when an elk jumped from the forest then ran down the path. It scared us indeed but we continued going down the path.

The journey so far was making me feel extremely uneasy but I did the best I could to hide it in order to continue to impress Jess.

We then suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream that must have come from an animal. It didn't sound good at all.

"What was that?" Jess asked nervously.

"Not sure I wanna know," I replied uneasily.

We continued down the path until we heard a sickening sound of someone breaking a bone. Ugh, it sounded awfully painful. I didn't want to know what the hell I was getting myself into.

I suddenly saw what appeared to be an elk lying on the ground. It had maybe three large scratches on its neck, smoke from the cold coming up. Its breathing was hallow and sounding like it was dying.

The agony in its eyes hit my heart like a pang, through my chest. Watching it in so much pain didn't wear away the sorrow in my eyes.

"Damn," I gasped.

"It's horrible," Jess said, sorrow clearly evident in her voice.

I could tell that she too, felt bad for the elk. I was well aware of her caring deeply about animals, not as much of a degree as Sam but still very much caring about them.

I examined the mauled elk's wound and definitely had a horrible thought that only ached my heart even more.

"I don't think he's gonna make it," I replied as I watched the elk dying.

I slowly walked to the elk, bending over a bit to try to not scare it.

"Hey bud," I said softly as I made my way to it before getting down to my knees to pet it.

"Oh, my god, the poor thing," Jess gasped.

"It's okay," I tried to reassure the elk that was dying before my eyes. "It's okay, it's okay."

It was hard to watch this elk literally on the verge of death right in front of me. I continued to pet it softly, hoping that the pain it was experiencing would be all over soon.

"Mike, its in so much pain," Jess shook her head.

The elk's breathing continued to slow down and sounded hagged. Every breath it took was sounded more and more horrible, showing signs that it was at the brink of death.

"It'll be over soon," I whispered to it. "Okay buddy? It'll be over soon."

Before I could say anything else to it, some unknown force pulled the dying elk in the darkness, startling us in the process.

Jess and I screamed as we ran out the area to get away from whatever tried to pull away the elk.

"Run! Run!" I yelled, following Jess.

"Oh my god! What the hell was that?" Jess shouted.

"I don't know!" I cried.

Dead ahead of us was was a broken bridge with running water below it. There was no way we would be able to just run through it or we would both into the water. We had to jump across it.

"There's a bridge!" Jess shouted as she jumped across the bridge. "Over here! Over here! Mike!"

I jumped over the bridge successfully which made me proud but I had to end my little internal celebration because we now had to run to the cabin, wherever it was.

"Get over here!" Jess screamed as I made it.

We continued to run down the path for our lives. I was suddenly beginning to feel convinced that something out there in the distance was watching us.

"It's a bear!" I shouted. "It's gotta be a bear."

We continued to run until Jess seemed to point somewhere.

"Look look!" She cried, pointing to what seemed to be a shortcut way.

The other way on the right seemed to show another path.

Looking at both ways, I had to make my decision fast. I eventually decided to follow the shortcut.

We began to climb up a bit with me helping Jess along the way. This moment was intense as hell and I was sure that it wasn't over yet.

We finally made it up to the cabin. We ran up the stairs as I was just about to grab the key to open the door but I heard a sound of someone tripping and falling. I turned to see that Jess must have tripped while we were getting to the door.

I immediately ran to her aid, making sure that she wouldn't die right in front of me.

"Come on we gotta go!" I insisted.

"I am!" she yelled back. "Mike! Get the key! Get it open!"

I then ran to get the key that was on the ground, unlocked the door then opened it for us then closed it, finally safe. It had to take us some time to catch our breaths.

"Oh my god, that was close!" Jess panted.

I shook my head, maybe thinking otherwise.

"Nah," I replied, trying to catch my breath. "Had it under control. Whole time."

"Bullshit," Jess laughed.

"No," I negated. "Hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred and ten."

We were still trying to catch our breaths from the scary event that we had just witnessed. Just, why the hell does maybe a bear do that? I wasn't so sure but I didn't want to give anything away.

"Holy crap," Jess gasped. "I feel like I just ran a marathon."

"I think we kinda did," I agreed.

She wasn't lying. We did have quite a scare and a run. The whole thing was replaying in my head and I was kinda wishing it didn't. This place was scary enough. Thanks Josh.

"Was it a bear?" Jess asked.

I nodded, at least that's what I hoped it was. If it was anything else worse out there, I probably would've had a heart attack or something.

"Things are crazy fast," I said.

"I mean, I didn't see it-" Jess began.

"Hey, thing's not gonna come barging in, I promise," I tried to reassure her.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I'm pretty sure bears don't know how to open cabin doors."

"I've seen them open car doors."

I was baffled at what I was hearing. I eyed her in questionable way.

"What?" I asked. "Where?"

"On the Internet," she replied.

I shook my head, convinced that maybe bears weren't exactly capable of doing such things.

"Really?" I replied. "Okay, well, this isn't the Internet Jess, okay? This is real life. And I promise you that no bear or anything else is gonna open the cabin door."

Jess shook her head but then nodded, accepting what I was trying to tell her.

"I guess you're right," she replied. "I'm almost feeling relaxed again. Almost."

She went over to the light switch to try to turn it on but the light wouldn't turn on.

"Huh, typical," she shrugged.

She walked over to the couch then sat down, shivering a bit.

"Br, this is not the cozy chalet I was promised, Mike," she complained.

I didn't disagree with her. This cabin felt kinda ominous for some reason. It left a bit of a chill down my spine and I wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, it's a bit drafty, right?"

"Well there is a fire place," she pointed to a small fireplace in front of us.

"We don't need a fire to heat things up."

"Michael, I'm a lady and a lady needs a proper romantic setting."

"Okay...?"

"A lady would like to cuddle up with her man by a nice cozy fire bathe in atmospheric mood lighting."

"It'll get plenty toasty once we're rubbing up against each other-"

"Mike? Fire and mood lighting."

I nodded as I went to look around the cabin, maybe I could find anything interesting in this drafty and scary place.

I went down to a small hall then saw a picture of who it appeared to be Hannah. She was dressed for tennis, a sport I had heard she was pretty good at. Damn, the thought of her still missing still hung in my heartstrings.

I walked over to another room then saw a book on the counter, my eyes lighting up at it as I walked over to pick it up to see what it was about.

The title read _Kama Sutra_ which had me rather surprised.

I opened the book and the pictures showed enough to give me an idea what it all meant. I had smooth moves for Jess but these kind of moves were pretty advanced. I wasn't too sure if I would be able to master them without hurting myself or Jess.

"These guys were inventive," I whispered.

I turned the page then saw more pictures of the possible advanced sex that must have been going on. I honestly wasn't sure how I was feeling about it but I was sure that I wasn't willing to risk it.

"Whoa," I gasped. "I'm not so sure I'm ready for such advanced levels of...'gameplay'."

I closed the book, put it down then headed to the bathroom, wondering if I could find anything interesting in there.

I noticed that the shower curtain was closed. I grew curious on what was behind it. I walked to it then opened it, only to find nothing and instead, the shower curtains fell down, wrapping itself around me like it was trying to pull me in a dark hole.

"Get off!" I gasped.

I tried to get away from it until I was able to successfully get it off of me. Holy wow!

"Fucking shit," I panted. "Fuck, fuck, shit!"

Jesus, I had been through enough scares tonight. How many more was there coming for me during this stuff?

"What'd you think was in there, Mike?" I asked myself as I left the bathroom. "Come on."

I had to brush off the events that I just went through so Jess wouldn't view me as a weak man.

I walked over to her when I noticed she was trying to dig into her pockets while looking like she was about to freak out. I was beginning to wonder why.

"Oh shit," she grumbled. "Oh fuck, Mike?"

"What?" I wondered.

"Oh crap!"

"Where is it?" She asked frantically.

"What?" I tried to offer. "What's wrong?"

"Gone, it is gone, okay?" she snapped.

"Slow down," I tried to reassure her. "What is gone?"

"My freaking phone Sherlock," she answered.

She was going almost ballistic, trying to frantically look under the couch and on the floor.

"You can't find it?" I asked.

"Crap, no," she replied. "I must have dropped it outside. I can't lose my phone. My parents will kill me!"

"You can always get a new one-" I tried to suggested.

"That's like my fourth one this year!" she interrupted.

I nodded, understanding what she was talking about.

"Okay," I said. "I'll help you look for it."

"It's gotta be outside," she replied, panicking.

I indeed wanted to help her look for it but remembering the events that happened earlier, I was not willing to risk it.

"I don't think we want to be going out there with the bear," I replied. "Or whatever it is."

Jess sunk down into her seat, probably not happy that I was worried for our safety but it was better being safe than sorry.

"Fine," she sighed.

I went over to a desk then saw a box of matches. Perfect! That would definitely set the mood for the fire.

"Lookie-lookie," I joked. "Who's gonna fire up some nookie?"

"You've been dying to use that line since we got here, haven't you?" Jess asked.

I chuckled a bit to myself as I made my way to the fire and what looked to be a lantern by the fireplace.

I first went to turn on the lantern, Definitely setting a mood lighting.

"Ahh, this'll take care of the mood lighting," I sighed before turning to the fireplace.

I picked up a log from a pile of logs then put it in the fire place. I did the same thing when I picked up the second log.

After that, I picked up the match, lit the fire, then put it in the fire place, allowing the fire to ignite, creating a bit of a toastier place. This was much better.

"Man one, fire zero," I chuckled.

"Very nice, bravo!" Jess applauded me.

In that instant, we stared at each other affectionately. This moment was literally getting close.

Even though I had intercourse with many women, this one had me shaking in my boots a bit. I didn't dare show it since Jess was looking pretty confident.

At that instant, Jess affectionately pushed me down to the couch, smiling at me. I was definitely enjoy this as the nerves began to melt away.

I stood up as we both circled around each other as I shook off my coat and shirt, dressing down to my grey undershirt. Jess even stripped down to her white undershirt, this time going barefoot.

We circled around each other again, this time, Jess shook off her jeans and white undershirt into her floral underwear and bra.

I leaned over to her, preparing myself for the climax of this act until I heard some glass shattering. Jess and I both jumped, not sure where it came from.

"Mike? What is that?" Jess asked nervously, hugging herself in fear.

"I don't know," I whispered.

"Go find out! Now! Please!" Jess shuddered.

I nodded to her as I got up from the couch then headed to really nowhere in particular. But I heard some maybe familiar music playing. I wasn't sure where it was coming from but I was determined to find out quickly.

I was on my way when I felt the cold breeze and snow come into the cabin. How the hell was this possible?

I continued forward until I stumbled through the bedroom and into the bathroom when I saw a phone on the floor. I picked it up to suddenly recognize who was the owner of the phone. Only one person I knew ever played this familiar music.

"Jess, it's your phone!" I called out to her.

She was shaking her head in disbelief and I couldn't blame her. How did her phone even get here in the first place?

"What?" She asked, shocked. "How is it my phone?"

"I don't know it just... came through the window."

She walked over to where I was then took her phone from my hand.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" she grumbled. "God dammit! Those goddamn assholes probably followed us out here to fuck with us and just when we were getting down to business!"

She stormed off as I slowly followed behind, thinking about who must have decided to barge in. I knew the one person who wouldn't dare come barging in was Imi. I knew her personality too well. She was easily respectful of anyone's privacy so I knew it couldn't have been her.

I saw that Jess put her phone down on the same table where I found the matches then opened the door. I watched her walk out of the cabin a bit. Her possible next intention left me without words.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Yeah pricks! That means you! I know you're out there! The fuck are you trying to do? You want to ruin our fun that Bad? Well guess what? You can't! You can't ruin our good time! Because Michael and I are gonna fuck! Thats right! We are going to have sex! And it's gonna be hot! So enjoy it! Because I know we're going to!"

She got back inside of the cabin the closed the door as I tried to process what in the world just happened.

"Give me a break!" Jess shook her head, standing by the door.

Before I could move a single inch, Jess was pulled up by an unknown force, the same one that pulled the mauled elk, but this time, I noticed a hand but it didn't look human.

Jess was screaming, trying to break free of the grasp but it was no use as she was then dragged away by the hand.

What the fuck just happened? Oh fuck! Oh fuck! What the fuck? Now I had to find Jess, fast!


	15. Searchings

*Ashley's POV*

I stood up from my seat using a candle for a source of light but Imi, who was behind me, also had a flashlight in her hand.

Everything that had happened from the seance was pretty scary. I had a thought that maybe the twins were communicating with us.

Suddenly, the memory of Josh getting upset from it all, nearly taking Imi with him but she had stayed to help us. She believed in the supernatural so having her with us provided some much needed assistance.

"Do you think the girls were communicating with us?" Chris asked as he got up from his seat.

"A good question actually," Imi answered quietly.

"I don't know," I replied nervously. "I don't know if I wish they were or I wish they weren't."

"I guess we should find out," Chris suggested.

Th three of us headed downstairs to go to the library when the entire image of how Josh was reacting replayed in my head, causing shivers to run up to my spine.

"Josh looked really freaked out at the seance," I said, my voice was shaking.

"Yeah, I mean he looked like he was keeping it together," Chris began. "But..."

A nagging thought suddenly built up in my head and I was starting to think about poor Imi who was barely coping over losing her mother last year now have this. Although maybe unlike Josh, she seemed like she kept her composure pretty well.

"Do you think we shouldn't have mentioned his sisters?" I wondered.

"I mean, it is why we came back up here."

"Yeah, but, not to like, have a seance. Maybe we went too far."

"There's really no telling," Imi piped up. "I mean, yeah, he's probably really upset over losing his sisters. But, I think his grief is still raw."

Chris and I nodded to her, acknowledging her point.

We continued down the stairs then went into an area when I saw some light from below. What the heck? I opened it up to see the light but I had no idea where it was coming from.

"The power's not even on," Chris said, sounding surprised.

"That's really weird," Imi replied.

We continued down to a room where one side of the area had a bookshelf of books.

We neared closer to it until a book hit Chris on the head.

"Jesus! Look out!" Chris cried.

"Chris!" I cried while ducking my head to shield it from being hit.

"What the heck?" Imi wondered as she ducked to shield herself from being hit by the books.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked, checking me and Imi to see if the books caused any injuries.

"I think so," I replied while Imi nodded.

I suddenly noticed something that must have been behind the books, hence why the books fell out with unknown force and nearly hitting us.

"Look!" I pointed out. "There was something behind the books!"

We peered closer to the now empty bookshelf and noticed that there was a button.

"A button?" Imi questioned.

"Why would there be a button?" I asked.

"That's a good question," Chris replied, shrugging a bit.

I considered my options about it before I decided that maybe I had to do something with it.

"Should I push it?" I asked curiously.

"That's what buttons are for, I guess," Chris approved.

I nodded to him before going to press the button then felt the shelf shake a little bit before it began to open. This was really weird!

"Panel opens, head explodes," Chris said rather sarcastically.

"Are we like in a movie right now?" I asked.

"If we are, I hope it's a rom-com," Chris joked.

"Leave it to the Washingtons to have secret passages in their house," I replied.

"I guess they didn't know," Chris said, slightly peering his head to find anything interesting. "This place is super old."

I shivered a little, this place giving me a bit of the creeps. I was kinda scared about this place.

"So, should we take a look?" I asked.

"We don't have a lot of options," Imi replied sternly.

"After you, Ash," Chris signaled for me to go.

"No no no no no," I shook my head in fear. "You go."

I handed him the candle then he took it from my hand.

"Gee, thanks," he sighed before making his way to the small area.

*Chris' POV*

I didn't even dare ask Imi to go in due to her slight fear of the dark but I guess I couldn't deny Ashley for having me go into the area.

I let the girls stay out where they were while I went ahead. I looked around to find anything interesting in this area which seemed awfully smaller than I predicted.

I suddenly stumbled across a picture of the desk that was on my left. I picked it up then saw a picture of Hannah and Beth, Hannah's butterfly tattoo clearly showing.

I gasped before turning it around. My eyes widened when I read a letter.

 _I WILL TALE TJEM AND BLEED THEM LIKE PIGS AND RIP THEIR SOFT THEIR WHITE SKIN OFF! FUCKING 16 YEARS! 16 YEARS I WAITED FOR PRETTY LITTKE HANNAH AND BETH!_

I was shocked. I didn't know exactly what to think of it. But I did think that this had to be a warning to the Washingtons.

"Holy cow," I whispered to myself.

I considered my options until I realized that I couldn't lie to Imi and Ashley were both peering their faces to the area.

"Uh, ladies," I said, turning to them. "I don't want to freak you both out but...but look at this..."

"What?" Ashley gasped, looking shocked. "Chris, what is that?"

"I...I think this might be what the spirit board wanted us to find-" I guessed.

"The clue?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "It's a letter."

"Let me see it," Ashley said as she reached her hand to mine then took it from my hand.

"It's a threat," I said to Ashley.

She nudged Imi to come look at it with her. Both girls read the letter, eyes wide and shocked.

"Chris, this is serious!" Ashley said desperately. "We need to find Josh right now!"

Imi and I nodded, knowing this was a serious situation. I hated feeling that Josh's family's safety was likely in jeopardy.

I led the way out of the library and into the same area we were before when we heard the sounded of a door opening. Except that it opened by itself. That was pretty creepy.

We continued down the dark and ominous hall and I was beginning to feel chills running down my spine. Something about this definitely washed in the feeling of horror and I didn't like it.

"Do you think someone was actually after Hannah and Beth?" Ashley asked.

"If so that would be really messed up," I replied.

"I think the spirit board was trying to tell us that there was some fucking psycho after Hannah and Beth and could be coming for us all too," Imi chimed in nervously.

Why was she always making good points?

I picked up a paper which looked like a letter to some doctor from Josh's mom, Melinda. What in the hell?

"Looks like this was written by Josh's mom," I said.

"Yeah, she's really making an effort to set things right with some native tribe or something," Ashley replied.

"Yeah, the bad karma does back a long way," I said. "I've even heard rumors that the Harmonys kinda stepped in a bit. They've been keeping a watch on the area for a long time."

"All before Maybelle died on this mountain two years ago," Ashley remembered.

That entire memory of that widened my eyes in surprise. The Harmonys knew about this mountain for a long time and have kept watch on it. If they did assist the Washingtons about this place, I wouldn't be surprised.

I put the letter down then continued down the dark hall until we made it to the main living room area where it was a tad bit lighter than it was in the hall.

A sudden memory triggered in my head when I saw a wanted poster for some guy up here on the mountain.

"I've just been thinking about something I saw earlier with Sam," I said. "There was like, this wanted poster, like full on wester-style, you know? And Sam really thought there was someone following her around."

Ashley looked terrified and Imi looked rather shocked.

"So, you're saying there's some criminal up on the mountain with us?" Ashley asked, her voice was shaking.

"There was a message...on this answering machine I found and-" I continued. "It was from this Sergeant saying that there was a guy who had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do-"

"What do you mean?" Ashley wondered.

"He was saying it, like a warning," I replied. "I mean, maybe that's whoever was down in the basement before."

"What?" Ashley was shocked.

"This doesn't sound good at all," Imi said nervously.

"Under the floor boards...in the library," I explained. "The light. Well there was that guy I told you about-"

"Wait wait wait, what guy?" Ashley asked, shuddering.

"The guy who threatened the Washingtons," I answered. "He said he wanted to take revenge by burning the whole place down. And I found that crazy psycho letter."

"Chris," Ashley shook her head. "If this is your way of trying to make us feel better, you're fired."

Before we could say anything else, we heard the doors to the kitchen trying to open. Then we heard some shocked gasps. What the hell?

"Did you guys hear that?" I asked.

Ashley ran to the doors then opened it, as if she were wanting to help whoever was in trouble.

"That was Josh!" She cried.

"Coming from the kitchen!" I replied.

"Oh hell to the no!" Imi cried.

We suddenly heard Josh screaming as Ashley slowly walked to the door and into the kitchen.

"Josh!" She called.

"Josh!" I cried. "We're coming! Hold on!"

Out of nowhere, some unknown force pulled Ashley into the kitchen then shut the door. It was now just me and Imi.

We ran to the door as I tried to open it but the door wouldn't budge. We heard Ashley screaming from the other side. This wasn't good at all.

"Ashley?" I called.

"ASHLEY!" Imi cried as she tried to open the doors but they wouldn't open. "What's happening? Let us in!"

I was starting to freak out. I had no idea what happened to Ashley. I had to get to her aid fast.

"Ashley?" I called but there was no reply.

I then decided to come up with a plan b. I had to get this door open.

"Stay behind me!" I instructed Imi as she nodded and did so.

I then tried to hit the door to get it open. It took three hits to finally get it open, causing us both to fall down.

Imi was the first the get up but was then suddenly jumped when she noticed someone there.

"What did you do, you psycho?" She yelled as she tried to give this unknown man with a head jumpsuit and a clown-like a bit of her wrestling moves but it only made this psycho in front of her angry.

"Don't worry my sweet angel."

Did he just talk? He sounded like he used some sort of voice changer or something.

Before Imi could say anything else, this possible maniac punched Imi on the head, causing her to be knocked out. Oh god! Not her too!

"Imi? Ash?" I tried to get up but instead, I get a punch in the head by the same maniac that punched Imi.

It was no use even trying to fight back because in the end, the darkness wrapped around me, making me close my eyes and remain unaware of what would happen next.

*Unknown POV*

There laid the unconscious bodies of Chris, Ashley and Imi. Aww, poor them. Watching them in this state.

I decided I wasn't going to bother with Chris but I had elsewhere to take Imi and Ashley.

Knowing that Imi had nothing to do with what happened last year and ended up running after Hannah and Beth and nearly died doing so as well as she and Beth being best friends, I carried Imi bridal style to Beth's room.

It was so adorable when Beth would let Imi sleep on her bed when she came over. It made me sad thinking about it but I refused to let Imi be involved in anything that was going to happen next.

I placed Imi on Beth's bed ever so gently then tucked her under the covers. I just watched her rest so peacefully but I knew if she did wake up and leave Beth's room, she would be the one mostly likely to discover the truth.

I took off my mask then leaned over to her, smiling at how peacefully she was sleeping.

"Sweet dreams, Imi," I whispered.

I then gave her a kiss on the forehead before placing the mask back on then headed down to the kitchen to take Ashley out of this place.

Instead of holding her bridal style, I just dragged her limp body away, leaving Chris completely alone.

Now I had a plan for Chris and Ashley, something to get them even closer.

Oh poor Christopher, Ashley and Imigie. They were going to be just fine, right? At least that's what I hoped as I continued forward to my journey to where I decided to keep Ashley until Chris came by. This plan was going to go exactly the way I wanted and I was pretty pleased with myself.


	16. Agony's Memory

*Imi's POV*

I woke up in Beth's room, not sure how in the hell I ended up here. Maybe because some psycho decided to bring me up here.

A sudden memory began to play in my head, obviously memories with Beth.

 _It was a nice cool day outside and my parents were at the grocery store to grab a lot of fruits, veggies, bread and some meat for my one year birthday._

 _My mom was definitely the definition of legit beauty. She had perfect long, straight black hair, a body of a supermodel and with fresh new clothes._

 _My father was a little more simplistic when it came to his wardrobe. He also had perfect straight black hair but he had his hair parted to the side, looking like some sort of punk kid who'd be obsessed with bands._

 _They were just about to approach to the apples (god forbid me, I loved apples), they saw the very couple they have known for the longest time who had three children. One of them, a boy was walking, he looked like he was about three. They also had two children on strollers, presumedly girls who looked about two._

 _Perseus and Maybelle (the names of my parents) went to say hello to the parents of the three children, Bob and Melinda Washington._

 _I heard them say something about wanting them to invite their children to my birthday party and they agreed, seeing it as a way for me to get to know their three children._

 _I understood every word they said because my parents really took well charge to teach me these words and different situations._

 _One of the kids, probably one of the girls turned to me and smiled at me. I smiled back at her._

 _Melinda introduced her as Beth._

 _"Beth," I whispered as the little girl began jumping up and down from her side of the stroller in excitement._

 _It was starting on that date when I became closer to the Washington kids, especially Beth._

The memory made me smile. Funny that a simple trip to the grocery store ended up being quite memorable after meeting Josh, Hannah and Beth.

Another memory suddenly came rushing into my head, one where we were a little older.

 _Josh had just turned six, the twins were five and I was four. We were playing hide and seek at the Washingtons' house. Both Washington and Harmony parents often loved to watch their children play together._

 _I was now counting as Josh, Beth and Hannah went to go hide. I could smell the fresh autumn scent all around me which made me feel alive._

 _I finished counting just before I opened my eyes to try to find where were they hiding._

 _I first went to go check the bushes then saw Beth there. She giggled when I did and I couldn't help but laugh back, my laugh rang like a bell._

 _It didn't take me long to next find Josh who was hiding behind a large tree. He laughed as he gave me a big hug that felt almost protective. Gee, no wonder how Josh had become close to me almost as fast as it did with Beth._

 _Shortly after, I found Hannah hiding behind the water hose as we laughed at each other._

 _Beth quickly ran to me and gave me a big hug. I definitely didn't hesitate from hugging her back as I smiled, Josh and Hannah joining in. It was such a happy friendship._

I definitely loved the warm sense of love and pure friendship. I missed these with Hannah and especially Beth but I did have the others to fill the hole. It was just that Josh was now the only Washington child to give me the friendship that Beth often gave me. He was often really sweet.

Another memory came rushing into my head as I looked up to the ceiling.

 _Josh was now thirteen, the twins were twelve and I was eleven. We were playing a game of duck duck goose with Sam, Chris and Ashley._

 _It was my turn to try to goose someone in the group. I had always loved this game, even when I was younger._

 _I walked around them and tapped their heads while trying to make a decision on who I should goose. I was sure loving how this was going._

 _That was until the end, I goosed Beth, causing her to stand up and chase me but I quickly made it to where she was sitting before she could catch me._

 _Everyone was laughing when Beth now had to figure out who the goose and I felt pretty entertained by it. Beth tried to pick to see who would get goosed until the end, she chose me._

 _I quickly stood up and ran to go catch her. I caught her just before she was about to sit where I was sitting, due to me being faster than her at running._

 _Beth and I hugged each other, causing everyone to "aww" and clap at the good sportsmanship we had towards each other. It was adorable to say the least._

I smiled at the memory which always left a smile on my face and I didn't ever deny that.

Just about all of my memories with Beth as well as with Hannah and Josh were happy memories but apart from the day the twins went missing, I also remembered one sad memory that always hit me hard.

It was a sad memory that I was sure to never be able to forget. It also reminded me that the Washington kids, especially Beth were all there for me.

 _I was sixteen, the twins were seventeen and Josh was eighteen. Josh had picked me up from high school as well with Hannah and Beth in the car. I sat next to Beth as we chatted about how school was and that._

 _Because my parents weren't home, I agreed to stay at the Washingtons' place._

 _We were hanging out and then everyone invited Chris, Sam, Ashley, Mike, Emily, Jess and Matt over._

 _We began to play spin the bottle which I had never played before but Josh taught me and I grew curious and interested._

 _After having a pretend brawl with Mike which was hilarious as heck, my phone rang, causing everyone to jump. I pulled out my phone to see who was calling me. I had to excuse myself because I couldn't just not answer to my father who was calling._

 _I picked up my phone to hopefully hear the cheerful sound of my father's voice._

 _"Imi?" I heard my father's voice but it wasn't cheerful like I always heard him sound._

 _Instead, he sounded like he'd been crying, sorrow and grief clearly in his voice._

 _"Are you okay Daddy?" I asked._

 _"I'm sorry to break the news to you sweetheart but I need to tell you this," he replied, sounding like he was going to cry. "It's about your mother. She's...she's gone."_

 _My ears rang and I was trying to figure out what he meant._

 _"What do you mean Daddy?" I asked, confused with my voice trembling._

 _"Your mother and I were hunting these monsters that live on Blackwood Mountain," he explained, sounding close to being on the verge of tears. "We were still until she accidentally moved. Then it came and picked her up. It literally stabbed her through the stomach. The next thing that happened was that it dropped her down to the ground as I watched her lifeless body lay there."_

 _He then burst into tears as I heard him cry over the phone. I was beginning to feel a lump in my throat._

 _"Oh god!" I whispered, sounding sad, myself._

 _"It's called a Wendigo," he sobbed. "It killed her."_

 _Tears began to build up in my eyes as I knew I had to break the news to my friends._

 _"I'm so sorry Daddy," I replied, sounding close to crying. "I guess I'll see you later."_

 _I hung up as I let out quiet sobs before going to join the others._

 _Instead of getting back into the circle to join them, I stopped just behind the circle between Mike and Emily, dropped to my knees then broke down completely in front of them._

 _Everyone looked concerned, especially Beth, Josh, Hannah, Sam, Chris and Ashley._

 _"What's wrong Imi?" Josh asked, looking as if he were ready to leave his seat._

 _I drew a ragged breath, feeling nothing but darkness and sorrow all over me. I had never felt this kind of agony in my entire life._

 _"Mom..." I sobbed. "She's...she's gone..."_

 _I broke down into a sobbing mess again as I felt someone's arms wrap around me. I looked up to see it was Beth just before I saw Josh leave his seat to join us, now comforting me._

 _I couldn't believe that my mother was gone. I just didn't want to accept it but if my father said it, I wasn't going to argue against him._

 _I felt my heart sink, feeling a stabbing pain through it and my throats was aching only because I was crying nonstop._

 _I felt so bad for interrupting the game of spin the bottle in the mess that I was in but I couldn't bottle up this event. I simply couldn't._

 _I could hear my breaths but I couldn't tell if they were shaking breaths or if I was sobbing. I had never thought I would ever be a victim of this brutal emotional agony that was pulling me closer in its current._

 _Why did my mother have to die? Why did it have to be her? She meant the damn world to me and without her, I'd be a fucking wreck!_

 _I tried to stand up, Josh and Beth trying to keep me up as they took me to the couch._

 _Beth left to go get something while Josh was there, wiping the tears from my eyes and hugged me so tightly._

 _"We'll take care of you," he whispered, almost sadly as I cried on his shoulder._

 _Josh was definitely the one trying to pull me away from the dark current that my arch-enemy, agony, tried to pull me into._

 _Beth then returned with a blanket as she and Josh wrapped it around me then hugged me as I cried for my dead mother._

 _I was definitely sure that it would hit my father hard. The thought of how my father must have felt only made the brutal pain in my heart worse._

 _We all suddenly heard sirens coming close and I wondered what they were._

 _Hannah went to go look out to the window then turned to me, shocked._

 _A knock was heard as Josh let me go before he went to go open the door._

 _There was policeman with my father and the Washington parents who looked pretty sad too, considering that that had known my mother since they were kids._

 _Dad walked into the house then noticed me before giving me a hug, both of us crying._

 _"I can't believe she's gone," I whispered sadly. "She meant the world to us."_

 _Dad gave me sorrowful nod when Josh and Beth also returned to be there for me. I just wished my mother didn't have to die like this._

That memory sent painful waves through my heart. Ugh, I hated feeling this sad.

It was also at that point when Josh really stepped in and got really close to me. He was two years older than me so he definitely acted like an older brother to me, considering the fact that I didn't have any siblings.

That was when my father was seeing that there was a possible potential relationship between me and Josh but I often denied it. I always thought Josh liked Sam more than I did.

Even though Sam was a little quirky like me, she was basically the pretty blonde. Josh seemed to act more flirty with Sam but maybe that was because he seemed to act a little more serious around me ever since my mother's death.

It even got to the point that I had to accept that maybe Josh liked Sam more than me. I had no idea what his types were but I was pretty sure that I wasn't his type. I would just be his pretty much best friend.

I even remembered when I was taking care of Josh until Sam came over shortly after his sisters went missing.

As Sam and Josh started joking around, I would look in the distance, wishing that Hannah, Beth and my mother were still here.

Poor Josh and Sam would feel bad for flirting with each other in front of me because they both knew that I was still trying to cope with losing my mother. It must have been hard for them to watch how so little I even laughed.

Even on Valentine's Day (which I hated anyway), I let Josh and Sam have their friendship as well as letting Chris and Ashley be. I was just completely alone that day.

Even my father ended up going out with some friends so I let him be. I was all alone.

I would lock myself in my room and stay in bed for most of the day, knowing that I would never get a shot at hanging out with any of them because they were busy with their Valentine's Day plans.

I usually didn't care about being alone until after I lost my mother, being alone either brought sadness or fear.

I would just stay locked in my room until Josh out of nowhere showed up.

 _After I watched Sam and Josh leave for their hangout for Valentine's Day, I just remained in my room._

 _My blinds were shut, my lights were off and I just stayed there. I knew no one would come over for me. I was the third wheel in every close friendship between my friends._

 _I just let the stinging pain fill in my heart and memories of my mother, Hannah and Beth played in my head. I didn't react to any of them at all though._

 _I was definitely not going to leave the house. There was no reason for me to do so. So why should I?_

 _I just remained where I was until I heard the doorbell ring. I went to get the door to see it was Josh, dressed up in a suit, pants and tie. He stared at me worriedly._

 _"Oh god Imi!" he cried. "Why are you alone in here?"_

 _I knew I would have to tell him why and I wasn't going to lie._

 _"Everyone is out either dating or having together with friends but of course I'm never invited," I would reply, the sadness in my voice so clearly heard. "I don't deserve to have fun. I'm not funny or anything like that. I probably don't deserve to be funny. I don't have anyone to be with at all today so maybe I don't deserve to be with anyone today. Maybe I deserve to be alone."_

 _Josh would shake his head before walking into my house then led me to my room._

 _"You don't deserve to be alone," he would reply. "The fact that you're alone a lot worries me. I'm gonna have to tell the others, especially Sam, Chris and Ashley. I've been in the same situation that you've been in but you have it worse because I've heard from your father that you're barely coping with the loss of your mother and then losing Hannah and Beth a year after is worse for you. It's not healthy to shut yourself out like that. I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite for doing it myself but you've been shutting yourself away more than I have. Of course you do go to school, get your homework, do chores, everything that you need to do. But I've heard that outside of that, you're barely even giving yourself time for fun things. It's just hard to watch you fall apart like this. You don't deserve to be in this state of mind. I know how much Beth meant to you as a best friend and I will do anything to fill in the hole for you."_

 _I would smile sadly at him before he gave me a hug as I hugged him back. He would be the kind of guy who just be there for you no matter what._

The memory definitely gave me a big reminder of a lot of things.

Josh had continued to get closer to me as a friend which was always nice to have. He was two years older than me but I didn't mind. He would just be like a big brother to me. He and I never fought or had an argument, ever. I only had a few things to disagree with him on.

I even seemed to notice Josh seeming to catch up with his friendship with Sam but looking at how they interacted was nothing like Josh and I would.

Sam was the funnier one. I was the more serious one. She was more caring while I was more honest. She was a spunky blonde. I was an off-key black-haired person.

Sam and I never had an argument either but I did mention to her a few times that Josh seemed to be interested in her but never in a teasing way. I would then tell her that she should get together with Josh while I either remained alone or find someone else to meet.

No one else seemed to be interested in me so I had pretty much given up on finding someone to meet. There was no use. I would just have to teach myself for how it would be being alone for the rest of my life. I figured my father wouldn't be too pleased that I didn't choose Josh but if he had chosen Sam, I had to accept it.

I would remember watching Sam and Josh practically flirting while they were waiting to pick me up from school when my car had to be fixed for the fifteenth billion time and I would slightly cringe. Maybe it was because I would never get to find the special someone in my life.

I was always the third wheel when I hung out with some couples or potential couples. It was pretty bad with Chris and Ashley but it was even worse with Josh and Sam.

On a few occasions when I would see Sam and Josh were having a moment in close proximity of where I was and without them looking, I would just leave then just wait outside while looking up. I would often reflect on if I was even compatible for relationships which most times I didn't. None of them would notice.

At least that was the case until that one day when Josh was the first to notice that I was distancing myself for far too much. Sam would even come to intervene, saying that she didn't like to see me alone a lot.

I guess that was true because even during lunch and that, I never sat with Matt and would always sit alone but he never noticed my odd behavior.

Josh would even call Chris and Ashley to tell them about my behavior so that I would have friends to be with. The details of the memory was just too easy to remember.

 _I was in the Washingtons' house with Sam and Josh, now two months after the twins went missing._

 _Sam and Josh were of course flirting. They were meant for each other. Sam was the perfect blonde bombshell for Josh. I wasn't. I was just a misfit._

 _It looked like they were about to kiss so I left them to be as I headed outside to give them some privacy while I headed outside and just sat on the snow while staring up at the distance._

 _I was sure that Josh liked Sam more than he liked me and after so many rejections from other people, I had given up on finding anyone to meet._

 _If my mother had seen me in the state that I was in from above, I would see that she would've been sympathetic for me. But her being gone from my life just wasn't the same. At least my father filled in the hole for me but we would always grieve over my mother._

 _I was barely even coping over the loss of my mother when the prank happened and Hannah and Beth disappeared. That had put a bigger strain on my social life. The only person I was ever really the most social with was Josh, Sam, Chris, Ashley and my father._

 _I had even visited my grandfather but he was always up on Blackwood Mountain so seeing often wasn't the case._

 _Why did it all have to happen to me? Why me?_

 _I would just let the sorrow take over and pull me under as I just stared into the distance._

 _With the situation that I was in, I didn't like to be alone but I didn't have a lot of choices. The two things I refused to do were to kill myself and self harming. I just never wanted to associate with those drastic behaviors._

 _I just continued to look up when I began to feel my eyes tear up. I just didn't know how to feel happy, laugh, smile all the time and just to have fun in generally but it was likely that I deserved it._

 _I would then curl myself up in a ball then hang my head down between my thighs in defeat._

 _Then I would suddenly hear footsteps coming close. I would look up to see Josh who looked concerned and sad._

 _"What the hell are you doing out here alone in the cold?" he would ask._

 _"You and Sam seemed like you were about to kiss," I would reply. "I figured maybe you deserved some alone time since maybe it's close to time for you guys to be hinting a relationship. You and Sam are cute together honestly. I just won't get a chance."_

 _Josh would look at me baffled then led me inside of his house then placed me on the couch then gave me a blanket. Apparently, I heard that Sam went to go get something._

 _"What do you mean by that you won't get a chance?" Josh would question, sounding concerned._

 _I knew the answer to that and I had to tell him everything._

 _"While you and Sam seemed like y'all were in a relationship," I would began. "I decided maybe I should move on to find someone else. Unfortunately, that failed because no one was interested in me so I pretty much gave up on finding someone to meet. I'm just not what many people want nowadays. They want the blonde bombshell, not some misfit. You and Sam are meant for each other. I'll just have to handle being the third wheel for the rest of my life."_

 _Josh was shaking his head when he heard me say this. He must have hated seeing me in this state of mind._

 _"No you don't," he replied while wrapping his arm around me._

 _Just before he could say anything else, Sam returned then sorrow was clearly shown on her face._

 _"You don't deserve to be the third wheel Imi," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. "Hearing how much you've been alone after losing your mother and now this isn't healthy. Plus, we don't even know if Josh even likes me."_

 _"I've seen the way he looks at you," I replied weakly. "Something about the two of you just clicks perfectly."_

 _Sam continued to comfort me while Josh did the same._

 _"Shhh," Sam tried to reassure me as she continued hugging me. "We'll take care of you."_

 _I didn't say anything else but it felt nice knowing that I actually had friends who would help me, as well for Josh when he was feeling down. It was a nice feeling indeed._

That memory really gave me a bigger reminder. Josh was a lot closer to me than I had originally thought. Not only did he act like a big brother to me but he also filled in the hole for me.

Even though I still doubted that Josh had any romantic feelings about me, I was sure that he did have a strong friendship with me.

Josh was there for me when I lost my mother and now I was returning the favor when he lost his sisters.

Josh and Sam might have done a similar thing but Josh seemed to grow a stronger connection with me.

I just continued to wheeze my eyes around the walls of Beth's room before I grew tired again. I then began to tuck myself under Beth's covers then closed my eyes, hoping for a peaceful dream.


	17. Findings

*Mike's POV*

"Oh fuck! What the fuck?" I shouted as I picked up a rifle hanging up on the wall before I opened the door and ran out of the cabin to go find Jess.

The cold air hit me hard but I didn't care. My mission was strictly simple.

"Jessica!" I called.

I saw shattered glass on the snow as my eyes widened at it. I couldn't believe that Jess got dragged away.

"Oh my god!" I gasped. "Jess!"

I was running for my life to go find Jess who was dragged away. I had to find her fast!

I stopped at two paths I could take. One showed to be a longer way and the other one seemed to be a shortcut.

I decided to risk the shortcut for Jess. I tried my hardest not to fall which thankfully, I didn't fall down and that.

I finally made it back on the snow and continued to run forward.

"JESSICA!" I cried as I continued running.

I then stopped as I kneeled down, pulled out the rifle then tried to see what was going on.

I suddenly saw Jess trying to crawl away from whatever was dragging her but she was pulled away instead.

"NO!" I cried.

"NO! MICHAEL! HELP ME! HELP ME!" she cried from below.

I was scared for Jess' safety. I had to get to see quickly. I jumped down the hill then slid down before dropping the rifle and the lantern as I managed to hang on to the branch to keep from hurting myself.

I ran to go pick up the rifle and the lantern then continued to run for Jess.

I managed to duck under a branch, jump over a log, duck under another branch, jump over another log then stopped at two different ways to get to the other side. I could either jump or shimmy. I decided to jump as I managed to do it successfully.

I continued to run until I stopped at another two way path. One was either to risk the slide down and the other was to follow the path.

My heart was pounding and fast over how much I was exerting myself as well as the overwhelming fear for Jess' fate.

I decided to risk the slide down, knowing if I went too slow, Jess would likely be dead. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if Jess had died. I had to save her quickly.

I managed to grab onto a log to help me not lose my footing as I slid down. I then held on to the edge of the hill before letting go, allowing me to land perfectly on my feet.

"Come on, come on, lets go Mikey boy!" I told myself through heavy breaths.

I sat down on the edge of the wooden platform then took deep breaths, hoping to not mess up my landing or things would be bad.

I jumped down and landed on my feet. Thank god! I went to grab the lantern that I dropped on the way down then continued to run through the icy cold weather.

"Oh no! Michael!" I heard Jess' cries.

"JESSICA!" I called.

"HELP ME!" she cried.

I saw her getting dragged through a door which looked like it could be an old mine or something.

I opened the door then closed it, now determined to find Jess.

"JESS!" I called.

"NO! MICHAEL HELP ME!" she screamed.

"JESSICA I'M COMING!" I yelled back, still worried about her fate.

I walked down the stairs then down to what it looked like it was some sort of mine cave.

"JESSICA!" I called for probably the fifty billionth time but I had to in order to make sure that she was still alive.

I continued to walk down the mine, hoping I would make it in time to save Jess and take her back to the guest cabin for our long awaited sex.

"JESSICA!"

"HELP ME!"

I continued to walk forward until I headed to what seemed to be a mine elevator. On there laid Jess, looking badly injured. She had a huge cut through her chest and her bra and underwear were both dirty. The worst fear began to run through my head.

"No!" I cried. "Oh god! No Jessica!"

I noticed that she seemed to be moving a bit, giving me a sign that she was alive. Oh thank goodness!

"Oh god!" I gasped. "Jess! Jess! Are you okay?"

Jess looked like she wasn't moving much, looked pretty scratched up and injured.

"Help," she said weakly.

Seeing her in this state almost broke my heart completely. I cared so much about her. I just wanted to take her back to the guest cabin or perhaps the lodge to get her some help.

I tried to reach over to her aid but something like a chain in the elevator broke and the elevator went down fast, taking Jess with it.

"JESSICA!" I cried once more.

I was beginning to think that she was dead. Sad, agonized, and furious, I looked up to see some man up at the top. I had a feeling that maybe this guy was her killer.

I took out the rifle, aimed at him then pulled the trigger to shoot. I shook my head as I ran up the stairs then jumped across, knowing that I had to run up to Jess' killer, fast.

My heart was beating fast and pounding hard at how much I was exerting myself once again but I had to do it for a reason.

I stopped at the elevator which I realized that I had to climb in order to make it up there.

I placed the rifle behind me as I went to climb the quick way.

I climbed up, jumped to a small ledge, got my other hand up there then continued to climb.

"Christ, come on, come on, come to Poppa!" I grunted as I jumped up higher.

The climbing and jumping up the elevator was making my arms and muscles ache but I had to continue, no matter what kind of pain I was in.

I then made it, jumped to the other side then took out the rifle then aimed at the man then tried to fire but the gun decided to not work.

"Fuck!" I whispered furiously as I threw down the gun. "Jammed up piece of shit!"

I saw the guy jump down and a door was coming down.

"Christ, gotta make it!" I said as I ran as quickly as I could before the door could close on me.

I slid past the door just in time as I then sighed in relief. Thank the frick god!

I noticed a lantern there that had to use fire for it to work.

Somehow conveniently, I got a lighter from my pocket to light the lantern before making my way out of this mine to follow Jess' killer.

I made it out to the snow but the wind blew hard and the cold hit me painfully hard but maybe it was because I left my coat in the guest cabin while I was stripping down for Jess.

I continued to walk forward until I noticed a building that didn't look familiar but it was definitely worth checking out.

"Jesus!" I gasped. "The fuck is that place?"

The only way that I would know is that I would have to check out this place. I was more than determined to do it.


	18. Choosing Fates

*Chris' POV*

I opened my eyes, drowsy and my head was hurting. Ugh! I hated it!

I placed my free hand on my forehead, feeling a bump on it. Oh shit! I think this maniac must have hit me.

I was furious when I watched him hit Imi with my own eyes. I was starting to blame myself that I didn't do anything to help her.

I got up to my feet to possibly reassure Ashley and Imi but then noticed that both girls were gone.

I assumed that Imi probably was taken to Beth's room or something but I had no idea where Ashley was. I had to find her fast!

"Ashley?" I called.

There was no response from her which began to worry me.

I tried to find any signs of Ashley but I couldn't find her.

Suddenly, something on the floor caught my eye. I went to go see what it was which looked to be a wallet an was that blood surrounding it? I picked up the wallet to take a closer look at it. I saw the design then turned it over to see the familiar name. _Ash._

"Not good," I gasped. "Not good at all."

I placed Ashley's wallet in my pocket then noticed that my cell phone was in there. I went to check it and saw that the battery was at 100%! I guess what Imi said about her being an infinite charger was true. She was the supernatural member of the group after all.

"Okay," I tried to calm myself down but I was still scared.

My heart was pounding and beating fast with the fear that building up inside of me. I didn't know where Ashley was and god forbid where Josh was too!

I walked to the doors on front of me, opened one of them then saw a crow flying away.

"The fuck?" I wondered.

I walked closer to the wall which had a hint of red. Was it blood?

I peered closer to the wall and my worst fears began to creep closer and closer to the front of my mind.

"Oh shit, no!"

I shook my head as I walked down the hall then saw a door that was open. Why was it just open? Was it sometime trying to leave a mark for me to head somewhere?

So many questions popped into my head as I walked outside, the bitter cold hitting me agonizingly hard but that didn't matter.

I walked down the path, occasionally calling Ashley's name but still heard no response from her. The fear for her safety continued to boil up inside of me but I refused to show it in case if I did find Ashley, I wouldn't want her to see me as a weak man.

I continued down the path, using my flashlight to look around for any signs of Ashley.

"Anyone there? Ashley?" I called.

No response. Dammit!

I then stumbled across two paths. I could continue to go forward but I noticed that there was a trail of blood. This wasn't good at all.

I decided to follow the blood. Maybe that might lead me to Ashley.

I continued down the path until some creepy scarecrow-bodied stick with a clown head jumped up, causing me to jump.

"What in the hell?" I wondered.

I peered closer to the figure that scared the living shit out of me, thoughts running through my head.

"Who would do this?" I wondered.

A million thoughts came running to my head as I walked past the figure then saw some more blood with a pig head?

I walked closer to it then peered closer to it, more thoughts and fears ran through my head.

"Aw shit," I shook my head, not wanting to believe what I was seeing.

I walked away from it then head down to the path I was on earlier then noticed an old she'd dead ahead.

I took a deep breath and summoned the courage to go inside of the shed, hoping maybe Ashley was in there.

"Ashley?" I called.

I suddenly heard crying and the sound of it sounded all too familiar to me.

"Chris?" I heard Ashley's voice, sounding like she was sobbing.

"Ash I'm here!" I replied. "Where are you?"

"I don't know!" She sobbed.

"Are you okay?" I cried. "What the hell happened?"

"Please help me!" She cried.

"I'm coming Ash!" I called. "Just keep talking to me! What happened?"

"Chris," she sobbed. "He tied me up..."

Anger filled me on the inside. Why would this maniac tie her up?

I continued to walk around this place to find Ashley when a cage trap thing fell from the ceiling, causing me to jump in surprise.

I backed away from it then continued to find where Ashley was. At least she was alive just by hearing the sound of her voice.

"Oh god Chris!" Ashley cried. "You have to get me out of here before he comes back!"

I walked to a window then the lights turned on, shining on Josh and Ashley who were tied up to what it looked like to be a long wooden plank.

I gasped when I saw this. I saw the faces of my two friends there and worse, there was a saw machine just there.

"Chris, are you there?" Ashley asked.

"Hello, and thank you all for joining me," the voice of the same maniac from earlier said.

Ashley was trying to wake up Josh while I ran to the door to open it but it wouldn't budge. God dammit!

"Tonight we're gonna conduct a little experiment," the maniac continued through the shouts of Josh and Ashley. "A sort of test. Now for this experiment, we'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects...Joshua and Ashley. But we're gonna need one more brace participant to help decide which subject will live and which will die."

My heart sunk as I watched my two friends in this trap, both of their lives hanging in a balance.

"Please," the maniac said. "Please please everyone calm down. It's all very simple. Christopher, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do is choose who you will save."

I looked down at the pictures of my two friends. Why me? Why do I have to decide the fates of my friends?

I hated the situation that I was forced to sit into right now. It was just so hard to watch. The thought of me having to do this made my head hurt more.

I heard the sound of the saw machine turn on as I heard the pleading cries of my friends. This was nothing but pure madness. I just badly wished this was all a bad dream and that I would get the opportunity to wake up from it.

Unfortunately, it was reality and there was no way that I would be able to wake up from it, no matter how much I was mentally begging for it to just be a bad dream.

 _This will not end well,_ I thought sadly, shaking my head at the thought that one of them will have to die.

"Just, just, just...give me a second," I stammered. "I-I can't think straight...shit."

I looked at the pictures of my friends, thinking hard about this. Josh was my best friend as well as Ashley but I did have a crush on her.

My headache worsened as I had to be the one to sit through this. I just hated it so much.

I eventually made my decision on who to save and I was not changing my decision.

"Ashley I'll get you out of this!" I shouted to Ashley. "I won't let you die!"

"Oh god, thank god!" Ashley seemed to be relieved but I could still her voice trembling.

"Please no!" Josh cried.

 _I'm so sorry Josh,_ I thought sadly.

"This is insane! This is nuts! This isn't happening! Chris, please don't tell me this isn't happening!" Ashley cried.

"I don't know what to do," I said, staring at the lever for a moment, wondering if pulling it to the picture will take the track to the opposite side.

I guess I had it figured out so I pulled the level towards Ashley's picture, allowing the track to shift towards the right, towards Josh.

"I see," the maniac said once more. "You have chosen to save Ashley."

The many shouts from the three of us Definitely said enough about our thoughts on the situation we were all forced to sit through.

Eventually, Josh started screaming as well as Ashley.

"You can't do this, please!" I cried!

It was too late. Josh was screaming when the blades of the saw began to pierce through his body, blood spilling everyone, cutting him in half.

His screaming died down as I couldn't believe what I just saw. There was the corpse of that laid hanging there.

The corpse of Josh.

Josh was dead.

My best friend, dead, gone.

"No no no, d-don't look Ashley, don't look!" I said as I felt a lump began to build up in my throat.

"Why can't I look Chris? Please tell me he's okay, please?" she cried.

The door finally opened as I immediately ran out of the area I was trapped in so that I could untie Ashley.

"I'm coming Ash, I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you down," I told her as she started crying.

I untied her then wrapped my arms around her, pleased that she was safe but traumatized over Josh's death.

Ashley seemed to look at Josh's corpse then screamed as I covered her face, trying to quiet her down as we made our exit from the shed.

I suddenly noticed two familiar faces coming towards us.

"Blood?" Emily gasped. "Whose blood is that Ash?"

"Are you okay?" Matt asked.

"Chris, what happened?" Emily asked me.

"Josh," I sobbed as Ashley continued crying.

"Josh what, dude?" Matt asked curiously.

"He's dead," I answered through sobs.

"Wait, what?" Matt looked shocked and scared.

"He died right in front of us, man-" I tried to explain.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked, now seemingly freaking out.

"There's a maniac-" I continued.

Emily and Matt looked at each other, scared and worried.

"Maniac?" Matt was baffled.

"Oh my god, we gotta gotta get outta here," Emily exclaimed.

"I don't understand what happened-" Matt seemed like he wasn't quite understanding what I was talking about.

"There's a maniac!" I shouted. "And... there was a saw and it was either him or Ash and I didn't know what to do! Cut right though him- and spilling out fucking everywhere-"

"What?!" Emily was scared Definitely. "Oh my god, Chris, what?"

"I killed him!" I sobbed. "I killed him!"

"Whoa Chris-" Matt tried to slow me down.

"It was my fault Matt-" I sobbed harder.

Ashley and I continued crying, still traumatized over what had just happened earlier.

"This is insane!" Emily cried. "We need to go get some help!"

"Cut right in half!" I cried.

"We're gonna figure this out, man," Matt tried to reassure me.

"I don't know," I sobbed.

Ashley and I continued crying while hearing the voices of Matt and Emily.

"Matt, we need to get help, now!"

"Em, we should look for the others."

"Mike and Jess are off 69ing each other and who knows where Sam and Imi are."

That got us both alert and now two separate missions to complete.

"I think Sam and Imi are in the lodge," I replied.

"Fine, you're right," Emily sighed. "Get everyone else together. But if there's a maniac running around, I think we need to get some help instead of waiting around. Let's go Matt!"

Ashley and I walked past Matt and Emily and headed for the lodge.

Now we had to find Sam and Imi who might likely be in the lodge. I just hoped they were safe.


	19. New Stories

*Mike's POV*

The bitter cold still hit me since I was only in my grey undershirt, boots and jeans but the adrenaline was sure to keep me warm for a while, at least after nearly having a marathon to get to Jess.

The last time I had seen her was that she was alive. But from that tumble of the elevator that took her with it, I was sure that she was dead but something in the back of my mind had told me that maybe she was still alive, probably unconscious.

I had stopped at a rock wall and saw the building that looked almost white. It was bigger than I had thought it would be. I was sure curious about and hid behind it, peeking to see what was going on. If I wanted any answers about Jess' possible killer, I would have to go inside of this abandoned looking building. I didn't have a choice, otherwise.

"Jesus," I whispered, shaking my head at what I was seeing far from me. "That's not good. That's really not good."

Ahead, I saw what it seemed to be the person who might have been Jess' killer but he had two wolves standing side by side with each other with him. What was going on here?

"Dammit," I muttered under my breath.

The wolves were standing beside the man. This gave me some kind of clue. They must be working for this guy. The question was why were they going inside of this building?

I was determined to find all of these answers about the man who might have likely killed Jess. I just had to wait for an all clear for him not to see me when I decided to walk inside.

"Let's get a closer look," I decided as I put the lantern on the top of the wall then slowly climbed up it. I didn't want to rush and hurt myself.

I took the lantern then jumped down, landing on my feet before continuing down to find the entrance.

In front of me, I noticed an abandoned water fountain that just stood there. I bet the birds would have enjoyed their baths if it wasn't this god damn cold.

I shuddered before turning to my right to notice that there were double doors there just after a few bit of stairs. This is exactly where I wanted to go to. This could be the entrance!

I suddenly heard howls nearby then stopped to check my surroundings, unsure at first where the howls were possibly coming from. Could they be from inside of this place? That was where the wolves were heading towards when I saw them from behind the rock wall earlier and maybe the wolves were the source of the howls.

I made my way to the door then turned the knob, slightly hesitating because I wasn't so sure if the door was locked. To my surprise, the door opened as I walked inside of this building then looked around, not exactly expecting to see what I was currently seeing.

The building felt almost completely broken. Stairs were blocked from broken concrete as bits of pieces of it just laid on the ground. It looked so grey and deserted, definitely felt like a place you wouldn't want to stay at.

I walked up to another set of double doors and over the doors, a sign read _Chapel._

I peeked through a small opening and my eyes widened at exactly what I was seeing.

It was a figure, a man for sure and two wolves, one appeared to be a black wolf and the other was white. This had to be the same man who took those two wolves down into the building and possibly the same person who might have likely killed Jess.

"What the..." I gasped.

I looked down at the doorknob and tried to turn it but the door was locked. Fuck! I looked down to see a sign just above the door that read: _Chapel Security Pass Required._

Fucking shit! Now I knew that my top priority was to find wherever this chapel key card was so I could see what this guy was hiding. If he had anything that he was hiding or if there was anything interesting in this place, I would be the one to find it.

I walked away from the chapel doors then decided took around this place briefly. I stumbled across a sign that read: _Blackwood Sanatorium._

My eyes widened when I saw this. I swear it felt like it was close to the lodge.

I went into the Admin area. There were empty shelves, small cubbies and it was dark and broken. I was for sure wanting to know who in the hell trashed this place.

I turned to my left and found a safe lock. Perfect! Maybe there was something in there.

My heart was beating fast as I heard the continuous sounds of howls probably coming from the wolves. Despite this, I was brave and determined as hell to find out the clues about this.

I stopped and found a large piece of wood on the floor.

"Whoa," I said. "Someone really wanted to take a peak inside."

I picked it up and with all my might, I tried to open the safe. The safe door opened and the wood broke in half. I wasn't distraught about that at all.

I found something interesting in there that I was curious about. I picked up a stack of papers and turned it over and saw a note that read: _30 Clocking In Name Cards_.

"Oh shit," I whispered. "Look at this."

Apparently, this had some information about who was working in this place. I've already read a letter about this place. This began to spark up my curiosity a bit.

I put it down and got out of the area and walked to the left again and saw a broken camera. What was this all about? I put the camera down and continued forward.

I stopped at two paths. One went to the Morgue and another path went somewhere else. Just for sakers, I went straight to the other path and walked down the hall.

I walked in the first room to my right and tried to find anything interesting. My eyes fell upon a newspaper, Alberta Post. I read it and opened my eyes wide in shock.

"Intrigue on Blackwood Mountain," I whispered.

So there was a person who was assaulted and someone else got their camera confiscated because they were taking pictures. This was some crazy shit I was seeing.

I got out of the room and with the rest of the hall blocked, I had no choice but to go to the Morgue.

"You got this Mikey boy," I told myself in my head as I walked down the hall to wherever the morgue was.

I stopped at an area that I though I should check out because I figured there would be more answers and questions.

I picked up a paper which read: _Miner Medical Report._

Holy shit!

So twelve miners were trapped after a mine collapse. This was sole serious shit happening. Plus, they were admitted to the sanitarium. Wow.

I flipped to the back and read a written note.

 _One of those guys actually tried to bite me! I'm going to report it to Dr. Bowen._

What on earth? So whatever miners that were being evaluated have got to be lunatics or something.

I walked out of the room and went down stairs. I turned to one of the doors and opened it and saw a machete. Perfect! This would make a useful weapon.

"Oh shit, gross," I said, seeing blood that the machete was stuck to.

I took it out and it was now in my hands. Perfect. I put it in my belt and continued to walk down the area which did feel pretty unsettling to me.

I suddenly turned and saw an area I hadn't looked at. I went to that direction and went to an area ends curtains were closed. Weird.

I moved the curtain and saw a restraining chair, just there.

"Holy shit," I said. "What happened here?"

This had to be used for forms of torture. I couldn't shake the though of it but I didn't want to anyway.

There was blood on the chair too. What?

I went into to take a closer look and thoughts came into my head.

"Twisted fuckers like to watch I guess," I said, narrowing my eyes.

I walked out the area, not wanting anymore of what was that chair could be telling me. I passed by some curtains and beds as I continued down this place.

I turned and saw something written on the wall. This looked interesting. I decided to check it out. I stopped then read the writing on the wall

 _How many days will they keep us here?!_

Who the hell wrote this? Something told me this has to be the miners who were in this place getting treated.

I shook my head then walked out of the area and continued down this place.

I saw an area that could be interesting to check out so I turned to go find anything interesting. I stumbled across a note on the table.

 _REPLY IMMEDIATELY: Reporters and other snoopers to be kept away at all costs._

I turned it over and saw it was telegram. So this had something to do with the miners being in this horrible place.

I read what was in the front and gasped in shock. Obviously, the sanitarium staff didn't want the press to see what was happening, at least that was what I thought.

I walked out of the area and into another hall that could be leading somewhere.

I saw a hand just rocking side to side with s tag on it. Nope. This had to be a trap. I moved away from it and went to the next area.

I turned and saw a horrifying looking skull in a glass container.

"This place just gets better and better," I said to myself, obviously not sounding convinced.

I saw cabinets that looked like they contained something. I opened one of them and saw it had to be a freezer where the bodies would be stored.

I pulled out the tray in the freezer and saw name tag, a death tag. No body was found though. It had possibly Dr. Bowen's name on the tag. It said that he was attacked by inmate on the throat. Holy shit!

Shaking my head after reading the tag, I walked away and went to another cabinet.

I opened it and there was what appeared to be a blanket and a death certificate? What? This had to be another person attacked by an inmate. Holy damn!

I read it and it said something about this person having their kidneys and stomach eaten by the attacked. What the fuck?

I shuddered and went to the next cabinet. I began to have a bad feeling that there would be a body in this place. I opened up the cabinet and I was right.

The body looked horrible. It looked almost zombie like.

"Ugh!" I grimaced. "Fucking sick! That's fucking sick."

Suddenly, a rat came out of the mouth. Ugh! So gross. What on earth were we dealing with here?

I nearly gagged watching this, probably seeing how nasty and disgusting this was. I was surprised that I didn't even get sick from seeing that.

I checked the pocket of the body's shirt and saw a pass for the chapel. Yes! I needed to go inside of the chapel. I took it and walked to a door that needed a chapel pass to get in.

I used the card to unlock the door then I walked in a hall. I walked upstairs but stopped at the middle of the stairs when I heard an angry bark.

I turned and saw it was a wolf barking at me. I had to run. I quickly ran upstairs then found a door I would close and lock. Good. Now I would keep the dog away from trying to attack me.

I went downstairs and saw a long way to get down. I sat down on the floor and jumped a long way down. Thankfully, I didn't hurt myself.

I checked my surroundings and saw I was back where I was before. I went to the double doors that led to the chapel and unlocked the door with the pass. I opened the door and I went inside of the chapel.

Suddenly, another wolf barked at me, scaring me. I didn't want to punch it so I remained calm toward him.

"Okay... okay..." I said calmly. "Easy boy... Easy... Easy... That's a good boy."

The wolf backed away slowly and I thought maybe I should find him something to play with in order to tell him I'm not a bad man.

I saw something, like cloth there. I went to go check it out. It was a jacket, possibly for someone in this place. I put it on, knowing how freezing it was outside.

I saw a gun behind the fence but there was a hole. Maybe I could tried to knock over this thing and get the gun. I did that and the gun came toward me.

"Nice," I whispered as I put the gun in my pocket.

I went out of the area and into the chapel. I saw an interesting looking box. I went to go check it out and saw it was a cigar box. Who on earth?

I put it down then walked to a chest that was ahead. I opened the chest and saw revolting things. Ugh! Bones. Wait... I could give it to the white dog. Good!

I picked up the bone and walked away from the chest. Perfect!

I gave the dog a bone then slowly approached him. I wanted to make sure I was slow because I didn't want to make him mad. I reached my hand to his head then he looked happy that now I had become friends with him. This is great.

I walked away from him and went up to a plaque that was hanging in the wall. It had a map and pictures of whatever areas there were.

"Fucking creep!" I whispered.

So this man has been tracking down something. Possibly Bigfoot and something else.

I walked away from the plaque and saw a sign that read: _Exit._

There was one problem. There was a lock on the door. Shit! I suddenly had an idea. I would shoot the lock with the gun I had with me. Perfect!

I shot the lock and the door opened. Thank the lord!

I walked into a hall and saw a door to my right. I went to the door and saw I was in some kind of odd staircase of some sort.

I didn't want to check downstairs just yet. I walked around the stairs and saw something on the floor. I picked it up and saw a picture of twelve men there. The caption below read: _Miracle Men._

Miracle Men? What did that even mean?

I put down the picture then walked to the stairs and walked downstairs.

I ended up what it seemed to be some kind of old basement or something. This was very weird.

I stopped at a barrel that was blocked some kind of doorway. I moved the barrel away and shot the lock like I did at the other area.

Suddenly, something did not feel right. I smelled something burning. I opened the door and saw fire.

"Shit," I whispered.

I jumped away from the fire as I heard an explosion from behind me.

*Unknown POV*

I looked over at the screens in front of me rather carefully, checking to see what everyone was up to.

In one of the screens, I saw the bathing bird, Sam in the bathtub with earphones in her ears. She seemed like she was listening to her music.

Another screen showed Imi in Beth's room, asleep. I smiled at how peaceful she looked.

I definitely had a surprise for Sam but I had a bigger one for Imi, this one likely going to show that she had a bigger connection of grief than she thought she did.

I turned to the other screen which showed the upper cable car station. I figured that now was the time to provide challenges for what was coming.

I pressed a button to lock the gate to give anyone a realization that they had to make another way to places. Now this plan was going pretty much exactly how I wanted it to be.

I then laid back on the chair that I was sitting on, anxious for my next plans.


	20. A New Way

*Matt's POV*

Emily and I were at the upper cable car station on our way to get some help. After hearing from Chris and Ashley that there was a maniac running around the mountain, Emily made it clear that we had to get help immediately.

It was freezing out there, especially when I had to go with Emily to find her bag which I had forgotten until we found it with Emily's gratitude in return.

Things felt pretty tense up here. Just when we thought things couldn't get any creepier and even less of a home-like place, the wind just blew ominously through us.

I walked over to the gate then tried to press the button for it to unlock but instead of a green button that was shining, it was a red button that shined.

"Hey, its locked!" I exclaimed. "The hell? Who did that? Man there's some seriously uncool shit going on up here tonight!"

I shook my head, questions running through my head on who locked the door.

I then walked away from the door then followed Emily down the path to the cable car station.

"I can't believe Josh is dead," Emily said, disbelief clearly in her voice.

"I can't believe how he died," I replied, shaking my head.

"No," Emily shook her head. "I mean, what if they were wrong?"

I was a bit confused over what she was saying.

"What?"

"Maybe we should have checked the shed to see if it was really true."

I was shaking my head. I did want to believe that she had a good point but at the same time, I wasn't so sure. If Josh was really dead, it would be something that both Emily and I would be unable to unsee, at least for a long time.

"I don't know," I replied a little apprehensively. "There are some things that once you see them, you can never unsee them."

"Yeah I guess," Emily said. "But some things you have to see for yourself."

I guess that she was right. I probably didn't like the thought of maybe having to go back to the shed to check if Josh's body was still there but maybe she did have a point.

"I'll take your word for it," I smiled.

I suddenly stumbled upon a silver bucket. I looked down to see that some paint was spilt on the snow. It looked rather fresh.

I shook my head as I walked over to the cable car station. I suddenly noticed an axe stuck on the door. Well this should provide some useful stuff.

"Look," I pointed out. "An axe! I feel better with an axe."

I got closer to the door as I pulled the axe from it. I examined it carefully, realizing that it wasn't at the door before. Strange. Nevertheless, it was a good thing to carry as a weapon for self defense if the maniac decided to follow us.

I heard the door knob creak a bit as I turned to see that Emily was trying to open the door but without any success.

"Oh what now?" she groaned. "This is locked, Matt!"

She walked away from the door then turned to me, looking rather worried.

"Well break the door down, will ya?" she asked.

I took a small moment to think about it but a horrible thought that the maniac could easily come find us began to run through my head.

"Whoa, wait a second," I stopped her. "We start smashing shit down he's gonna hear us."

Emily sighed before giving me a curious look on her face.

"You got any better suggestions?" she asked.

I took a moment to think about this before when I turned to suddenly see a window that was partially opened.

"Look!" I pointed to the window. "A window!"

"That's great Matt," Emily grumbled. "I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot."

"No come on," I urged, trying to take a closer look at the window.

"You will never fit through there, big guy," Emily replied.

I took a moment to think about this. Maybe I could help Emily through but a thought suddenly came inside my head that what if the maniac was in the cable car station, waiting to tear us apart. I didn't want to risk possibly losing our lives to him.

"Alright," I said, turning to the door, axe in position to break the door open. "I'm gonna huff, and I'm gonna-"

"Just do it!" Emily instructed.

 _Well, here goes nothing,_ I thought before using the axe to smash the door open.

It took three tries before finally getting the door open as I pushed it open. It was dark in here. I couldn't see shit!

Thankfully, Emily went over the turn on the light. But something was off. This place looked like someone must have trashed it or something. It was so messy in here. What the hell happened?

"God damn," I gasped.

"What happened?" Emily asked nervously.

I was shaking my head in shock, still trying to comprehend what happened to this place. It certainly didn't look like this when Emily and I arrived at the cable car station.

"This is crazy!" I exclaimed.

"We were just here like a few hours ago," Emily replied. "This must have just happened."

"What the fuck is going on?" I wondered, still shaking my head in disbelief.

"It's gotta be the guy," Emily answered. "The one who got to Chris and Ash...and Josh."

She was right indeed. I didn't think that the maniac was going to go after Mike and Jess. However, I did have a worry that he would possibly go after Sam and Imi who were both in the lodge. Of course now Chris and Ashley went to go find them to warn them about the maniac.

"He's gotta know this is the only way back!" I replied.

"Don't say that," Emily said nervously, hugging herself.

I noticed the cable car was not too far from us. It was not too far away from the platform of the station.

"Look," I pointed. "The cable car's all the way out there."

"Well, that's...I mean that's not far, right? You can jump it?" Emily suggested.

I shook my head then chuckled a bit to myself. Surely, I could but without hurting myself was an issue.

"I'm good Em but not that good," I laughed. "Flattered though."

"Well Matt if you can't jump that. What are we gonna do?" Emily asked, somewhat panicking.

I shrugged then thought maybe I should look around this place to see if there was anything that might be useful to us. If I had to find it, it had to be fast because I wasn't sure how much time we had until the maniac would come to get us.

"God, everything is like, so busted up," Emily said nervously.

"I think they knew exactly what they were doing," I replied.

I walked up a few stairs to the base of the station and seeing more wreckage done in here.

"Someone really did a number on this joint," I whispered.

"Such a mess," Emily agreed. "This place was barely in working condition before, and now it's so busted up."

I didn't say another word but I did agree with her. Someone must have done some serious wreckage here. I had a feeling that it was the maniac that Chris and Ashley mentioned earlier.

I continued to search around this place when I noticed some writing that must have been in paint.

 _DIE DIE DIE DIE_

I shook my head at this, not liking it at all.

"Very friendly," I whispered sarcastically.

"Ugh, unfollow," Emily grumbled.

I walked away from the writing when I walked to what it looked to be a fallen picture of some sort.

I picked up the picture then placed it back on wall before peering over it carefully.

It looked like it was a map of the entire mountain.

My eyes lit up when one thing seems to catch my eye.

"Look!" I pointed. "Fire tower!"

"We should get this cable car working and take this show on the road," Emily said, shaking her head.

I did exactly what she told me to do without question.

I peered over the buttons but where there should be a key, there was no key. Great! I guess the maniac didn't want us getting out of here.

"Great," I groaned. "No key, no cable car. So, back to square one."

Emily looked rather distraught until I noticed her eyes light up, like she might have had an idea under her belt.

"What about the fire tower?" she suggested. "On the map you found?"

"I guess it's an option," I replied.

"Maybe it has a radio or something," Emily said. "I mean, it would, wouldn't it?"

"Probably, yeah," I said hesitantly.

"Matt, we gotta get to that radio!" Emily insisted.

My eyes glinted with surprise, realizing that Emily was right about having us get to the radio. We didn't have a lot of options when there was like no phone reception and that the maniac would expect us to be at the lodge for him to capture us.

"We ca use the radio to call for help," I agreed.

Emily flashed a smile on her face, nodding at me.

"Well someone knows how to play by the rules," she said.

"What?" I wondered.

"Rule number one, Emily is always right," she replied. "Rule number two, nothing else matters because Emily is always right."

Even though I wanted to say something, I decided not to and instead, chuckled nervously to myself before we got out of the base of the station to find another way to the other side of the station to get to the fire tower.

I saw Emily trying to reach for something which I wasn't sure what it was until I took a closer look to see what she was trying to get. She was trying to pull a latter but couldn't reach it. I helped her up as she pulled down the latter as it down, allowing for us to get down safely.

Emily climbed down first as I saw that this area that we had to go across wasn't wide enough to walk normal on it so we would have to walk sideways.

After Emily was done climbing down, I followed her down, trying my hardest not to look down at the seemingly never ending fall down the mountain.

Emily and I began to walk sideways, both of us worried that one of us could fall but we had to keep our composure. This was scary and dangerous but I knew that it was the only way for us to make it to the other side.

Emily seemed to have stumbled a bit but I managed to catch her, holding her around her torso just in time.

"Thanks Matt," she gasped, seemingly trying to catch her breath from almost falling down.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"I think so," she replied before making me push her behind me. "You should go in front of me."

I nodded without question as we continued forward. We were just over half way there! We just had to continue going.

"I'm feeling a bit faint," Emily said shakily.

I continued to shimmy down this tiny ass platform before finally making it to the other side of the cable car station.

Emily also did the same thing as she sighed of relief.

We then continued down the path to head to the fire tower to go get help.

"I really don't want to go back to the lodge," Emily said nervously. "That's where the maniac expects us to be."

"Indeed," I replied.

"I'm not sure about Sam but I think Imi could throw a little nasty punches to him," she continued.

I didn't say anything but kept going to head our way over there.

I suddenly saw a small shed to my left then decided that maybe I should go check it out for myself.

I walked to my left, hoping to find anything interesting.

Not even barely in the small shed, I tripped against the wooded ground. I wasn't sure what the hell happened but I decided to go check for myself.

I looked down and noticed a cellphone there. It was almost frozen from the weather.

I picked it up to see for myself exactly whose phone it was and when I turned it over to see the name of its owner, my eyes widened in shock. I couldn't hold back my gasp of surprise.

Emily must have heard me because she slowly made her way to me, took the phone from my hand then examined it. Her eyes widened in shock then turned to me.

"Whoa, this is Beth's phone," she gasped.

This didn't sound right. I was sure that the police did look all over the area during their investigation.

"I thought the police swept through the whole area," I wondered.

"Well looks like they missed this," Emily pointed out.

I didn't disagree with her. Pretty much seems like we would be finding stuff that the police didn't even find. That left me rather surprised.

We walked away from the small shed as I headed down the path to notice a danger sign near the edge of the cliff.

My eyes widened at this. Why was it here anyway?

I walked away from the edge of the cliff to join Emily and we were about to head our way when a lot of mooing interrupted up.

There were a large hoard of elk walking towards us as we backed closer to the edge of the cliff. I hoped this wouldn't lead to our deaths and that we wouldn't hurt the elks or that would be the last mistake we would make.


	21. Run Or Hide

*Sam's POV*

It was such a peaceful time. Just peacefully listening to my music while relaxing in the bathtub while closing my eyes. This was definitely my idea of walking away from the drama and spooking. I just hoped it would remain that way for the rest of my bath.

Unfortunately, I was interrupted when I heard the door shut and I opened my eyes, noticing that the candles that were lit were turned off. I took off my earbuds and looked around, wondering what was going on.

"Hello?" I asked, pondering what was going on. "Guys?"

No answer.

"What are you doing out there? Being creepy?"

Again, I was met with silence. Something wasn't quite right.

"Okay," I murmured as I gave up just looking around and got out of the bathtub.

I quickly snatched a towel from a nearby rack then wrapped it around my body, hoping it wouldn't slip down for anyone to see my lady parts.

I looked around in the bathroom but no one was there. I decided that maybe I should just slip my clothes on so that I would feel much better since I was still freezing. It was worse since after getting out of the hot bath.

I stopped at where I had put my clothes but something was wrong. My clothes were gone and the only thing I found was one of my socks.

"Pete's sake, my clothes, really?" I groaned. "Whoever did this is off my Christmas list this year. Seriously? Not cool, guys, not cool at all."

I shook my head before standing up then opened the door in front of me. It was so quiet here. What the hell was going on?

"Chris?" I called. "Josh? Mike, Emily?"

The only thing that replied to me was silence. This was creepy.

I suddenly noticed red balloons tied onto the handle with an arrow, drawn in white to the direction I was going to go anyway.

"What the hell?" I wondered when I saw them.

I shook my head before continuing down the hall. I noticed the door in front of me before I approached it so I opened it before continuing forward.

I was entering the next hall when loud dinging sound erupted, interrupting my thoughts and causing me to jump. My heart pounded hard and beat fast at the loud sound.

It turned out to be a grandfather clock in front of me. Jesus Christ!

"Ugh," I shuddered, trying to catch my breath. "Stupid clock."

I continued forward, hoping to bump into one of my friends, or even just hear someone talking. This was absolutely weird.

"Okay, you got me," I said, sounding annoyed. "Look at me, ha ha. Look at Sam walking around in a towel but, now I really want this to be over, alright? You had enough?"

Silence answered me as I turned to the stairs.

"Can I have my clothes back or am I suppose to hang out in a towel for the rest of the weekend?"

No response.

"Towel it is then."

I continued down the stairs into the main floor. No one came up to scare the shit out of me or anything. I hated that I might likely be all alone in the lodge.

I decided that maybe I should go downstairs where the cinema room and the basement were to find the others. The other doors were locked and I really didn't have a lot of options.

"Okay, if you were trying to freak me out, you succeeded," I said, irritated as I walked down the stairs.

I took the flashlight that was on the counter by the cinema room and turned on the flashlight. I hated that it was so quiet.

"Where the hell are you guys?" I wondered, looking around as I walked into the cinema.

"Whoa, this is weird," I commented as I got in.

I looked around me and checked my surroundings, now scared. Were my friends trying to purposely hide in the lodge so that they could scare me?

There were a few people who I didn't think would play such a scheme on me. I didn't think Mike and Jess were since they were going to go to the guest cabin to make out. I didn't Imi would do it either since she was so considerate but she didn't mind joining into a little bit of fun.

Regardless, I was scared that I was about to become a victim of some new prank that probably Josh came up with.

"Hey!" I cried. "Guys, come on! I'm done with! I really don't appreciate the silent treatment here!"

I suddenly heard some doors close behind me. The sound startled me so much, to the point of making me scream.

I looked behind me to see that the cinema room doors were closed. I looked around to see who was behind this.

"Hello Samantha," a sudden scary contorted voice said.

I looked around, terrified and unsure who was speaking. Who was this?

"Looking for me?" asked the contorted voice.

I looked around more, scared and practically shaking. Who was this?

"I don't think you'll have much luck by looking, Samantha," the contorted voice said.

"What the hell?" I wondered, shaking my head in disbelief.

"You're only going to see what I want you to see," the contorted voice continued. "And I have quite a lot to show you."

There was no telling on what this unknown person behind this voice had planned to show me and I was annoyed at being left in the dark and wanted answers.

"What is going on?" I gasped.

"Open your eyes," the contorted voice instructed.

I turned to the screen and saw what showed to be me in the bathtub listening to my music. Seeing myself looking so peaceful was satisfying but at the same time, the shock and disbelief replaced the pleasure.

"Oh my god!" I gasped, shaking my head.

"She's quite beautiful, isn't she?" the contorted voice said once more. "A beautiful bathing bird. Do you think these were the last happy moments of this creature's life?"

"Why are you showing this to me?" I shook my head again, wishing that what I was seeing wasn't true.

"Why are are you watching?" the contorted voice asked.

I turned away, trying to clear my head of what I had just witnessed. I gave myself a few seconds before turning back to the screen. This time, this showed a new clip.

There was Josh, hands tied to a wall and a huge saw blade inched closer to him.

"JOSH!" I shouted.

The saw blade inched even closer to Josh until it pierced through his lower abdomen as he was screaming.

"How does it make you feel?" the contorted voice asked.

I didn't answer but only screamed in horror and shock. One of my closest friends was probably now dead and the person behind this voice had to be behind it. I was distraught at the same time.

"God, what did you do?" I cried, almost on the verge of tears.

"I'm going to give you ten seconds," replied the contorted voice. "Ten... nine... eight... seven..."

"No, no no no!" I screamed as I backed away to the cinema room doors. "Please no!"

The doors to the cinema room opened as I turned to see a tall man wearing a creepy ass clown-like mask. It had long hair and the teeth were yellow.

His appearance caused me to scream in horror.

"Sam," he said as he held a gas pipe and a gas back. "Sam."

I now had to consider my options. He could do just about anything to get to me and I had to think fast.

I found a vase to my left as I threw it at him before running out of the cinema room.

"Oh shit shit shit!" I cried as I opened the door out of the cinema room then opened another door leading to a new room.

There was an old bed. I had to think quickly or else this maniac would get to me.

To buy myself a bit of time, I hid under the bed then quickly turned off my flashlight to prevent him from noticing my location.

I heard heavy footsteps getting closer and closer and I knew I was close to being doomed.

His footsteps stopped suddenly and that was a bad sign. I knew he was in the exact same room that I was in. That was when I heard his sadistic, contorted laughter.

I tried to muffle my sudden scream with my mouth but he managed to find me by grabbing me by the foot. This was not going to end well.

"No! Let me go! NO!" I screamed as I tried to come up with a plan to get away from him.

I kicked him between the legs before rolling away from him, stood up then continued to run.

I ran down to the basement, luckily remembering about the broken step and didn't fall, thank god!

I ran down the hall of the basement then stopped, panting as I tried to figure out my next move: if I should hide or continue running.

I didn't want to risk running more for now because as far as I was concerned, this maniac could appear anywhere. That easily terrified me but I knew I didn't have any other choices.

I hid behind a wall and quickly turned off my flashlight again just for extra security.

"Sam," I heard his voice. "Why prolong the inevitable?"

I waited a few more seconds before decided to dash out of my hiding place. His arm immediately caught me as he tried to put the gas mask on me and I screamed but a memory began to play in my head.

 _Josh took the baseball bat he used to play baseball with his family from me when I wondered why it was there then he put it down in a box._

That immediately rung an idea in my head. I found the baseball then hit him on the arm before managing to get away from him.

I was a little groggy from the gas mask but it was enough to last a while. I ran to a wooden door but noticed that there was no handle. What the hell?

"Are you kidding me?" I gasped. "No handle?"

I turned to my right and noticed a shelf of wine bottles. Maybe if I pulled it down, it would buy me enough time to find something to unlock this damn door to get me out of here!

I pulled down the wine shelf as I turned to see the maniac making his way closer to me.

I noticed a nail roll out of the shelf which might help me open the door. I smiled at my good thinking as I picked up the nail, put it through the hole then turned the nail which successfully let the door open.

I only let in enough space to have me go through the space between the wall and the door. I quickly closed the door then locked it.

The maniac's hand came through an opening of the door, trying to unlock the door.

"Get out! Get out!" I yelled at him as I tried to slide in the door opening to prevent him from trying to unlock the door. My attempt was successful, much to my pleasure.

I was out of breath but that didn't matter. I just wanted to get out of here. This was a massive nightmare I had put myself through tonight. I only hoped that everyone else was alright.

I walked down the hall to see a wooden door ahead. I had to get away from there, quickly!

I tried to open the door by turning the doorknob but that went unsuccessful. Trying to burn in the hope through me, I forced it open with my shoulder which opened the door easily but I didn't keep eye on my step that I fell forward down to the ground.

I checked myself for any wounds that I might have possibly suffered from when I fell but there was nothing. Shrugging, I got back up then walked down to a rather old looking building.

This entire area was broken. The walls were broken and completely quiet except for my own panting.

I stopped at two different paths, knowing that I had to act fast in order to get away from the manic.

"Oh crap," I whispered to myself.

I noticed an elevator shaft thing to my right. I knew I had to hide because the maniac could come out from anywhere if I chose to run.

"Oh fuck," I groaned. "Fuck."

I ran to the elevator shaft then immediately turned off my flashlight as I heard his footsteps get closer and closer every second. I huddled myself into a ball, terrified.

"Here kitty kitty-"

I was so scared and shaking that my foot accidentally slipped and I knew at this rate, I was dead meat.

"Ha!" the maniac laughed. "Little birdy is unhappy in her cage."

He immediately put the gas mask over my face, causing me to scream then breathe deeply before the blackness was there to wash over me.


	22. The Escape

*Imi's POV*

 _It was all so dark, wrapping around me as I tried to comprehend what was going on. I was in a dark and snowy forest._

 _It was freezing! I walked down the path to...somewhere? Where on earth was I going?_

 _I heard strange sounds coming from the distance of the forest. It was strange indeed._

 _I turned behind me and saw Josh was standing there. He looked horrified and I couldn't make out why until he opened his mouth to speak._

 _"Imi! I think something is trying to find you!" he cried._

 _I turned back then gasped to see a strange monster staring at me. Its eyes looked dull and its sockets looked scarred. It was bald with bones barely protruding out of its skin._

 _I stared at it in horror, staying as still as possible. Chills ran down my spine as I tried to stay as quiet as possible._

 _The monster suddenly turned away from me, then pointed to the other direction. Was it trying to tell me something?_

 _I turned to see that there stood possibly a man with a clown-like mask. The hair looked synthetic and fake. The teeth on the mask looked to be kind of yellowed or something. He looked to be some kind of psycho._

 _I couldn't hold back my scream of horror as he took a few steps closer to me. I turned to the other side and saw that the monster was trying to do the same._

 _I tried to run but the hands of the psychopath grabbed my arms and held me while the monster was examining me. I didn't dare try to squirm but I was taking deep breaths to calm myself down._

 _I wasn't even sure why the monster didn't even try to kill me yet. Shouldn't it kill me? The psychopath didn't kill me either. It was a little strange._

 _The monster first gave me a look of pity, almost as if it were trying to say sorry to me. Without warning, the psychopath nodded for the monster to make a blow. I immediately shut my eyes to prepare myself for the sharp and intense agony that would later cut off all of my senses._

I woke up in a screaming fit, frantically trying to check myself for any possible injuries, then I checked around me to see if there was any monster or psychopath around me.

There wasn't any around me. I sighed in relief, definitely alert and awake now. Maybe it wasn't just because I randomly having a nap after someone took me up here to Beth's room but also because of the vivid nightmare I had.

I have had nightmares about the night when Hannah and Beth disappeared but this one I just had was different. It was unusual for me to be having nightmares that weren't what they were before. Was it trying to tell me something?

I pushed the covers off of me as I quickly made the bed then found my flashlight on a desk. I picked it up then turned it on, wondering what was going on.

"Shouldn't you be in your sleeping slumber, Imigie?"

I heard a voice that sounded like a voice changer thing was used. It sounded contorted and menacing, leaving a cold chill down my spine.

"Oh, Imigie, you were much better in your sleeping slumber. But I guess you will have to learn what happened, if you're lucky enough to get away from me. Eventually, I have quite a surprise for you."

I didn't dare question him but he sounded like a psychopath or something. I didn't like it at all.

I walked to the door, opened the door then walked out of Beth's room. I noticed that there was balloons with arrows painted on them.

"What in the hell?" I wondered.

I walked towards the double doors in front of me then opened them before continuing to walk down the hall.

I turned to the stairs as I walked down, wondering where the rest of them were.

"Josh? Sam? Chris? Emily? Mike?"

No response and I was beginning to feel afraid. Cold sweat streamed down my face and chills ran down my spine.

I began to have a terrible feeling that I was completely alone. The silence definitely didn't sit with me too well but that didn't matter. I was determined to find out what was going on.

I decided to check the bathroom to see if maybe Sam was there and that she didn't hear me. At least that's what I hoped.

My footsteps were oddly quieter than usual but I didn't mind. I wasn't sure what was going on but maybe it was a good thing that my footsteps were quiet.

I walked down the short hall then headed for another rather wide hall before making my way to yet another hall. Jesus! Sometimes I forget how huge this place was despite me coming here during the winter, summer and for brief visits with my grandfather.

I remembered whenever my parents before had to help my grandfather with some stuff, they would always have me stay with the Washingtons. It was so nice and peaceful. I don't ever recall this place being rather menacing.

I walked into the bathroom, hoping to find Sam in the bathtub probably having her earphones on but to my shock, she wasn't in there.

What I did find was her phone on the edge of the tub. It was still playing some classical music. She liked classical music a lot and I respected her about that despite me preferring rock music.

"I guess you've gone mess around or something," I whispered. "If ever needs a woman to take to the bone zone, it is you."

Before I went to pick up her phone to turn it off, the whole world around me began to spine briefly until a vision seemed to come on.

 _A woman was sitting in the bathtub with music in her ears. She looked like she was enjoying herself, looking peaceful and that._

 _The vision suddenly cut to the woman taking off her earbuds and looked around to see who was creeping on her._

 _"What are you doing out there?" she wondered. "Being creepy?"_

 _She had just finished getting out of the bathtub then wrapped her body in a towel when the vision changed to her being in the cinema room._

 _"Guys come on!" she cried._

 _The doors behind her closed seemingly by themselves, causing her to scream._

 _"Hello Samantha," a contorted voice said._

 _It was only cut to her backing to a wall, looking terrified._

 _"Please no!" she cried._

 _The doors suddenly opened to reveal a man with a clown-like mask, holding a gas mask and a pipe of what probably was sleeping gas._

 _The woman screamed when this man was suddenly making his way towards her._

The vision suddenly ended. I was gasping for air over the sudden shock from the vision I just.

I had to take a moment to sit down to calm down before getting the courage to start my mission.

The woman in my vision looked all too familiar. And the voice that was trying to call her name sounded familiar as well.

I finally got back on my feet when I knew I was on a serious mission.

"Oh no, Sam!" I cried before taking deep breaths.

I was scared for Sam. I had no idea where she was and I had a horrible feeling that she was probably chased down or something.

And the man in my vision looked just about the same as the man in my nightmare from earlier. So this man must be chasing her. Some psycho is chasing her.

I shook my head, terrified as I left the bathroom then headed down the halls and to the stairs to find Sam.

I quickly walked down the stairs then checked the doors to see if Sam was hiding anywhere in the lodge. Unfortunately, they were all locked.

"Oh no, this isn't good at all," I said to myself, shaking my head. "Where are you, Sam?"

I realized that I had no other choice. I had to make my way downstairs to the cinema room where Sam was before she got chased down.

I walked downstairs then headed for the cinema room to find Sam. To my dismay, she wasn't there.

"Oh no, this is bad," I gasped.

Before I could say another word, I began to hear footsteps that sounded closer with every step.

I turned to see a tall man with a clown-like mask covering his face. He looked so similar to the same guy in my nightmare and in my vision.

Instead of the gas mask he had in my vision when he caught Sam, he had syringe in his hand.

A needle!

Ugh! I hated needles!

He cocked his head in a creepy manner that made my skin crawl. I didn't like the situation that I was being forced to sit in.

I screamed when I saw him as he began to take steps closer to me.

"Oh Imigie," he cooed. "I wonder if you think running away is a good idea. You probably won't have any luck finding Samantha, don't you think?"

I didn't answer but to buy myself some time along with bringing some of my wrestling to the game, I gave him a super kick, causing him to stumble a bit as I ran out of the cinema room.

I opened a door in front of me that led to a guest room. I had two options, to hide or continue to run.

I decided to hide under the bed. I laid down on my back and turned off the flashlight then clutched the flashlight against my chest. I could feel my heart beating fast and pounding hard against my chest, part of it from running and the other part from fear.

I heard the door open then heavy footsteps making way to me. I knew if I made a single sound, I would be dead meat.

That was when another horrifying sound escaped from him... at least I was sure it was him.

His sadistic, contorted laugh.

I couldn't hold back my scream of horror as I saw his mask, pulling me by the leg.

"No! Let me go! No!" I screeched as I tried to hold on to the leg of the bed.

I was sure he would inject the needle into me but to my surprise, he didn't.

Instead, he used his free hand to pull up my jacket and my shirt underneath the jacket up to just below my breasts.

I was still writhing in his grip, trying to escape but he wouldn't let me. He just traced his gloved finger all over my bare stomach looking rather fascinated.

I knew I had no time for these games so I immediately used all the strength I had to kick him through the gut. I then rolled out of the bed then continued to run, not bothering to pull my shirt and jacket down until I found another place to hide.

I ran to the basement door then opened it as I ran down the stairs, remembering that broken step so I paid extra caution for that.

I ran down the hall then found a place by the boxes to hide. Now this looked familiar. Maybe I could hide there to buy myself some time.

I hid behind the boxes, panting heavily, then made a brief change to my outfit. I pulled down my jacket then unzipped it. I sighed before pulling up my shirt and tucked it under my bra.

Satisfied with the change, I pressed myself against the wall then turned off the flashlight, pressing it against my bare stomach.

I heard his footsteps getting closer and I knew I was one step closer to being doomed. I tried to keep my breathing as quiet as possible as I continued to hear his footsteps.

"Imi," I heard him say. "Why prolong the inevitable?"

I noticed something dead ahead of me in one of the boxes. It appeared to be a baseball bat but not just any bat. It was the exact same bat that I spotted by the boiler earlier before Josh put it in the box.

That suddenly rang an idea inside of my head. If I wanted to escape from this psycho, I had to do it fast without him watching.

I took a deep breath then walked as slowly and softly as possible before grabbing the baseball bat, pulling it out of the box.

I examined it quickly, surprised that the psycho didn't hear me but maybe it would because I was quiet.

I positioned myself for me to hit him on the back. I took a deep breath then without a second thought, I quickly hit him on the back then ran away before I could see his reaction.

I ran down the hall then to stop at a door that was closed. It looked like it had a handle so I turned it before pushing it open, leaving a small gap between the door and the wall to squeeze my body through quickly.

I closed the door behind me then noticed another dark hall ahead. I walked forward, looking down to see a bit of a step down. This told me that I had to be careful and I was.

Much to my surprise, it led me to a different area of the lodge, thinking it was the lodge at all. It didn't look like the lodge at all, let alone looking familiar to me.

Walls were broken and collapsed. The entire building was completely broken beyond repair.

I walked down this broken hall until I came across two paths. One straight ahead of me led to a small elevator shaft which I hoped had a hiding place. The other way was to the left and to continue running down this broken building.

"Oh crap," I muttered nervously.

As far as I was concerned, the psycho could show up anywhere and running would do me very little favor. I just couldn't risk it.

That was when I decided to go to the elevator shaft to hide. I had no time to waste.

"Oh gosh," I gasped as I ran to the elevator shaft. "Oh dear, I hope he doesn't find me."

I climbed down the elevator shaft then had to decide my next option quickly. Crouching could increase my chances of him seeing me. One bit of me shaking and then I would be dead meat.

I laid down on my back, wincing at the discomfort but that didn't matter. I tried my hardest to inch my body closer to the wall next to me.

I turned off my flashlight just in time because I suddenly heard footsteps inching closer. I was terrified but I refused to make a sound.

"Oh, so you want to play hide and seek?" the psycho said. "I love that game. Just know I will find you."

 _Shit, please don't find me,_ I thought nervously as I tried to not move a single inch.

"Aww, where are you, kitty kitty," he said again. "Here, pussy, pussy."

It was only a few seconds before he spoke again but this time, he sighed in frustration.

"Fuck!" he groaned.

That was when I heard his footsteps getting quieter and quieter. Did he give up trying to find me? Is he giving me a chance to escape?

Those thoughts rang in my head as I sat up, looking around for a place to escape. I didn't want to be hiding in this elevator shaft forever. I just couldn't.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed something like a vent that looked like it would easy to open. I could just open it then crawl my way through it to find somewhere else to be in.

I smirked briefly before crawling to the vent. It wasn't very difficult to open it, much to my surprise. I then crawled into the vent, hoping this would be a good idea. Regardless, I didn't have any regrets.


	23. Experiment

**Hey guys! After like, quite a number of months (a bit of writer's block and getting sidetracked with other projects), a new update is here! I hope to get the next chapter up quicker than how long it took to get this one up, lol. And I will say that there are things that I'll likely change. I won't spoil anything though. Just be on the lookout for those.**

 **Also, I've been considering this for a long time, but I am now deciding to work on a third Until Dawn fanfiction that will also be different from the other ones. And yes, it'll be pretty much like how it was in the game. I already have OCs planned in my head for the story so be on the lookout for that as well. I know, it's just another story to add onto to the pile of other stories I am working on but hey. I guess it's fun to work on a mix of stories so that I can go back and forth on each one. Plus, some may even spark ideas for other stories. Don't blame me, lol. I'm notorious for doing this.**

 **Anyway, here's this chapter here!**

…

*Ashley's POV*

I turned to Chris who was coming down the stairs. So far during the search around the lodge for Sam had been unsuccessful, much to my dismay. And there was no sign of Sam next to Chris or anywhere near him. My mind was racing about where she could possibly be, but the doubts clouded everything.

"She wasn't up there?" I asked.

"I don't know, I didn't see her," answered Chris. "She must have come down here."

"I haven't seen her either." I shook my head, nearly panicking at this point.

Our next option would be to head downstairs to the basement. The last thing either one of us wanted was for Sam to be killed by whatever maniac could be around.

"I didn't see Imi either," added Chris. "She must've escaped or something."

"Who knows?" I sighed.

Chris looked around before shrugging, looking defeated.

We didn't even know where Sam and Imi ended up, but we feared for the worst. It was only safe for us to look for them. No way in hell would they just jump out at us.

We were just about head for the stairs when we heard what sounded like a candle flickering on. The complete suddenness of it caused us to jump in surprise.

"Did that just happen?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Dammit! What is going on around here?" wondered Chris.

I gave him a defeated shrug, completely unsure of what the hell was going on here. My mind was racing with greater insanity and my imagination was starting to wear on my mental state. However, I tried everything I could to keep it hidden so that we could focus on our mission.

Chris and I headed down the stairs, still stunned by the events in the shed. Trying to process it in my head was absolutely terrifying and the fact that it was replaying in my head didn't help at all. Chris on the other hand had a blank expression but I couldn't help but think how much the earlier events overwhelmed him. The only think I could do was to ask him if he was alright. Sure, he may have saved me, but I could see that despite his dead-like expression, all wasn't well with him.

"Chris?"

"What?"

"Chris, I just want to say what happened back there in the shed. I know how hard that was. Josh was your friend—"

"Ashley, stop," he interrupted, sounding dead and firm.

"No, I want to say, I mean thank you... thank you for saving my life," I said as we headed into the huge cinema room.

"Ash, what was I gonna do?" asked Chris, turning to me, his expression unchanging but his voice starting to sound a bit more distressed. "I couldn't let anything happen to you. I couldn't."

He paused for a moment as I kept my concerned gaze to him. It bothered me that he didn't seem to want to talk about what happened. Maybe he was far too traumatized, but I didn't know. The blank expression on his face definitely didn't help.

However, his expression changed to a more worried expression. I didn't speak.

"Ash, you alright?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, I just... I know you and Josh were close, Chris—"

"Let's just find Sam and Imi, okay? That's what we're doing now."

"But I mean oh my god—"

"Ashley. Just stop, okay?" interrupted Chris, sounding rather annoyed and irritated. "I don't want to think about what just happened."

"Chris—"

"We're finding Sam and Imi."

I let out an exasperated sigh, deciding it was best to not argue about this any longer. I was still worried about my two friends who probably had no idea about what happened in the shed. Sam might be still in the bath, but I was beginning to doubt that very much. As for Imi, we didn't even know where she was.

I led the way as we headed out of the cinema room. It could likely take a long while to find Sam and Imi, but I was determined to find them.

After we entered the hall, a slam that sounded much like a door closing interrupted my thoughts. I jumped in surprise before turning to see the door was completely shut.

"What the heck?" I gasped.

Something felt very wrong in this place and I couldn't even put my finger on it. The atmosphere felt colder than before, and freaky stuff was beginning to happen. Before that, Josh had died right in front of me and Chris. This was not what I imagined our weekend to be.

I shook my head before decided that we should go into whatever was in the door in front of me. Plucking up any bit of courage I had, I walked to the door then opened the door. It was maybe at peeking point when an unknown force pushed the door closed.

I jumped when this happened, and I didn't hold back my gasp of horror. Was this really happening right in front of me?

"This is so effed up," commented Chris.

Though I didn't speak, I turned back to Chris then nodded, fully agreeing with him. Things here were getting freakier and freakier every minute.

Deciding if maybe I should try again, I turned back to the door then tried to open it. Unfortunately, the door decided it had better ideas by refusing to budge open.

"Dammit," I hissed, frustrated.

It was no use thinking about trying again. I turned to the left part of the hall and a door at the end of it. Maybe we had to go there, or maybe my curiosity was really going to work today.

Chris and I walked towards the door, hoping that this time, there would be nothing interesting because I had enough of paranormal stuff for today. But, before we even made it just about a foot away from the door, it unexpectedly opened on its own. Things were getting flat out unnerving and I was slowly beginning to hate it.

We walked into another hall, but I noticed something that resembled a translucent figure walking further down the hall. From where I was, it looked an awful like a ghost. I stopped dead in my tracks, thinking that this must really be a ghost. It gave me quite a shock and the only thing that caused my thoughts to be interrupted was the feeling that bumped into me. I turned to see it was Chris but now, I had to tell him exactly what I saw.

"Wait a minute," I said. "Did you just see that?"

"Uh... did I see what?" wondered Chris, confused.

"That, Chris! That!" I confirmed, pointing to the hall where the ghost was.

"What that was that?"

"It was like a see-through shape like a ghost!" I explained.

"Oh boy," groaned Chris, sounding very much like he thought I was crazy, even though I was sure I wasn't.

"I'm serious!" I insisted. "Why don't you believe me? I said I saw it. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Chris turned to me, shaking his head in disagreement.

"We've been through hell tonight," he said firmly. "Your mind is fried; my mind is fried. I don't even trust what I've been seeing."

I shook my head then looked up at him with a serious expression on my face.

"No! You are wrong! I saw it. And I am sure, Chris!" I insisted.

Chris sighed before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, alright, maybe you did see something," he said quietly. "Let's just keep our heads."

"Are we going crazy down here?" I cried, feeling all sorts of insanity running through my head.

"It's the only place left Sam could be, Ash."

"I wish we could go find everyone else and—"

"What if Sam needs us?" interrupted Chris. "What if she's in trouble? Or even Imi?"

"Oh god," I whimpered, realizing that he was right.

Before one of us could speak, I heard a creaking sound that sounded much like a door opening. I looked up to see that the door to the basement was already open.

"Let's go," insisted Chris, gesturing me to follow him.

I hesitantly complied (all because of the freaky stuff happening) then followed Chris down the stairs to the basement. There was some occasional banging sounds but it wasn't very loud, at least loud to the point that it would scare me. The sound though was still unnerving.

I tried to think of something that would keep my mind off the freaky stuff, like if Sam and Imi were alright. The last time I saw Sam, she was heading upstairs for a bath. As for Imi, we were trying to find clues about Hannah and Beth's disappearance and we were just heading for the kitchen. Now with a maniac on the loose, I was worried for my friends.

Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted when a loud bang sounded off in the basement. I jumped in surprise at the sound before recovering to continue my way down the basement.

That didn't last long though as another loud bang sounded off in the basement.

"Whoa! You've got to be kidding me!" cried Chris.

"What the hell is going on—" I began.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed a horse (the ones kids like to rock in) rocking back and forth. I jumped in complete surprise, unaware that this was in the basement.

"On my gosh, that scared me," I gasped, trying to catch my breath from the surprise earlier.

"You knocked into it, right?" asked Chris. "You knocked into it?"

"I don't think so... I mean I don't know," I answered. "How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was."

"Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what's really happening here," said Chris.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that translucent white figure out passing right by us?" I grumbled, slowly beginning to lose my patience with him saying I was likely imagining things.

"We could be seeing things," suggested Chris.

"I'm not imagining things!" I insisted.

"Yeah, well I mean saw things too," said Chris. "I saw what happened to Josh in the shed. You know? And that's what I'm worried about."

"Oh, Chris, I know. I know."

"You know what I'm really worried about?" said Chris. "Okay? I'm worried about Sam. What's happened to her? If there's some maniac out here, then she could be dead too! And Imi too! Who knows where she could be? Both she and Sam could possibly be dead!"

"Don't say that Chris." I shook my head, my thoughts going all over the place.

Before another word could be said, I noticed the figure again from the corner of my eye. My eyes widened when I saw it passing by the hall, desperate for a chance to have Chris see it.

"Wait! Chris! The ghost!" I said, pointing to the figure.

"What?"

"Didn't you see it?"

"No." Chris shook his head.

I facepalmed in exhaustion. At this point, it was going to be like pulling teeth to get Chris to see the ghost the next time it would pass by us.

"You were looking at your phone, you dip!" I said. "What are you tweeting? Hashtag there's a freaking ghost after us?"

"Ash, calm down, okay?" urged Chris. "There is no ghost here. Ghost of what?"

He paused for a moment.

"You're freaked out because of what happened with Josh," he finally said.

"You're not paying attention," I argued. "I saw it. I saw a ghost and it looked like Hannah! It looked like Hannah!"

"Wait, What?"

"Or maybe Beth!"

"Jesus Ash."

I let out a sob, feeling like my patience was tested even more.

"What do you think they followed us up here from the seance?" asked Chris.

"I don't know, maybe!" I answered uncertainly.

"They didn't!" argued Chris. "Because ghosts don't exist, okay?"

"Okay, who was talking to us at the seance, Chris?" I asked.

A pause erupted between the two of us. It was beginning to feel rather awkward, given how heated our argument had become.

"I don't know," said Chris at last.

Before I could say something, I heard a scream, causing me to jump in surprise.

However, next thing to happen was even more unexpected. A picture that was hanging on the wall down the hall, fell on the floor with unknown force. It startled me greatly.

"What did that?" I asked.

"How does the picture just jump off the wall like that?" wondered Chris.

Deciding that maybe that the picture falling on the floor might be trying to tell us something, I led the way down the hall. I noticed from the corner of my eye, there was a key hanging on a hook on the wall. So, this was what the figure was trying to show us.

I took the key from the hook then began to examine it, wondering what it was used for. After a while, I smirked as I looked up.

"Huh, here you go," I said.

I turned to find what the key would unlock. Unfortunately, I was rudely interrupted when I saw the ghost again, walking passed me and Chris.

"Oh my god!" I gasped, pointing to the ghost so that Chris could see it. "There! Look there, Chris! You can't tell me you didn't see that!"

Chris seemed to have noticed the figure and stood in stunned silence. It seemed that he was shocked to see it, but it didn't faze him like it fazed me.

"Wow that's..." he began.

"See? You do see it."

"That's...I dunno," stammered Chris. "I just... this is fucking crazy."

He ran towards something, but I wasn't sure what.

"Chris, it's showing us the way," I suggested, following him.

I turned to see that there was an older dollhouse standing on a desk. Maybe that was what the ghost was trying to show us.

"Oh, this is unbelievable," I suddenly said. "I feel like the ghost wanted me to see this."

"What?"

I didn't speak as I walked closer to the dollhouse. I stopped just in front of it to give a good peek. I could see dolls and small furniture in it, though I thought just some random scene. Despite that, I still couldn't pass up that it was beginning to sound suspicious in my head.

"Look! Chris!" I pointed out. "You can see in the windows."

"See what? Tiny furniture?"

"No, it's a whole scene with dolls and everything."

"Yeah?"

I noticed a little window up close to the roof that I could move. I moved it out of the way to see a lock on it. That was when I instantly remembered the key I had in my hand. I unlocked the dollhouse then opened the front part of the dollhouse. The scene of dolls and furniture in front of me looked even more suspicious and awfully familiar.

"What is going on here?" asked Chris

"Oh god! It's like..." I began.

"It's not like anything. That's us," stated Chris. "Hiding there waiting for Hannah. Last year."

"But it's so accurate," I commented, pointing out the details in the scene. "I mean, that's exactly there so was sitting and that's where Matt was."

Seeing the whole scene implode in my brain was beginning to give me a slight headache. It hurt having this here in front of me remind me of when Hannah and Beth disappeared after the prank. A sudden uneasiness began to settle in my stomach and I didn't know if I was going to throw up or not.

"This was setup by someone," said Chris. "Who was there."

"Or someone, or something that was watching us," I countered.

"Maybe it's a warning," suggested Chris. "I think someone put this here to mess with us."

"No, it has to be the ghost telling us that the maniac killed Hannah and Beth," I argued.

"I think it's this bastard who's trying to fuck with our heads."

"Why would he set this all up Chris?"

"He's trying to tell us he's going to come after us all too."

Immediately after Chris said that, a doll tilted her head to the side then one of her eyes opened. Chris and I both jumped at the spookiness of it.

The roof of the house opened by an unknown force, startling me and Chris again. Deciding that maybe this figure was trying to guide us, I looked inside of the roof then noticed a small journal. I opened it to see familiar handwriting on it.

"It's Hannah's diary."

I went ahead and decided to read it as maybe a way to get some clues about everything.

 _Mom finally agreed._

 _The invitations are out!_

 _The party is gonna happen! I HATE that I have to wait. :(_

 _So far Ash, Matt & Sam have said definitely yes. Nothing from Mike... :(_

I turned to the next page, already feeling a sinking bit of sadness in my heart. Hannah sounded so happy in this entry.

 _O.M.G! Mike confirmed!_

 _He phoned Josh this afternoon :D_

I turned to the next page, reading the entry silently to myself before reading it out loud.

 _Woohoo! PARTY TIME tomorrow!_

 _Everyone being here together on the mountain is gonna be SO AWESOME, cozy fires and hot tubs and OMG MIKE! I am so psyched to spend some time with him!_

 _Totally got to stop obsessing but I can't help it - and don't want to :)_

"'Everyone being together here on the mountain is gonna be so awesome cozy fires and hot tubs and OMG Mike I'm so psyched to spend some time with him' I can't read this! It's sad, Chris."

Seeing these entries made me feel that much sadder about playing a part in the prank last year, even if it was the most minor one. Sure, maybe my relationship with Hannah was fairly okay but still, I didn't wish anything bad for her.

There was not much else on offer to see, so I closed the diary then put it back in the storage.

I suddenly heard a door creak open. I looked up, trying to figure out where it came from.

"What was that?"

"It came from down there."

Chris and I walked down the hall, passing by the fallen picture. I turned the knob to open the door then it did open. Nothing completely out of the ordinary happened, save for some mist in the air but it didn't last long.

A scary zombie like figure popped up in front of us, causing us the jump in surprise. Chris rushed into the next room but before I could make it in, the door closed shut right in front of me. Panicking, I tried to open the door but to no avail. It was locked.

"Goddammit!" cried Chris from the other side.

Despite the door refusing to open, I tried several times to turn the knob.

"Chris! Chris!" I called, desperate for the door to open.

Luckily, it wasn't very long when the door finally opened. There was Chris standing there, looking perfectly unscathed.

"Nothing," he said.

"But did you see it, Chris?" I asked. "For real."

"I saw... something," he replied. "But, where did it go?"

All I could do was shrug. I didn't have an answer and I very much didn't want to know at all, let alone answer. My best bet was to look around at this creepy part of the basement and see if there was anything interesting that might add up to what happened to Josh in the shed, find clues about the twins, and find Sam and Imi.

I turned to my right then noticed a random book on the counter. This did enough to peak my curiosity.

"Hey, look at this," I said. "Doesn't seem as old as some of the stuff down here."

Chris came over then peeked over my shoulder.

"A catalogue for industrial lightbulbs?" he said.

"That is so random," I commented rather bluntly.

I opened the book then flipped through the pages, so far finding nothing interesting. It wasn't long when I stopped at a page with one bulb from the page was circled in what appeared to be red marker. This caught my eye as I read the one that was circled.

 _Original lamp for RB-type projectors._

 _Lamp with housing. 96W._

 _Avg. 5000 hours._

"Look, one of the bulbs is circled," I stated.

"That's a powerful bulb," said Chris.

I nodded in agreement as I closed the book. As I put it back, I saw a pair of scissors on the counter. An idea sparked in my head as I put it in my pocket.

 _This'll be a good weapon_ , I thought to myself. _Especially against that maniac._

I turned my right to see some boxes. Thinking that this was likely suspicious, I moved them out of the way to reveal a video camera. A red light was blinking, signaling that it was on. That same uneasy feeling in my stomach that occurred earlier began to cue up again, but I swallowed hard to force back the vomit that was threatening to come up to my throat.

"Uh, Chris?" I said, turning to him. "You think it's the guy?"

"Well, that'd make sense, I guess," he answered.

I looked back at the camera, shuddering at the front lens looking straight at us. I didn't even know what it was here for, or even why it was hiding behind some boxes.

"I don't like being watched," I said, slighting cowering from its possible glance at me.

Chris turned the camera to the boxes.

"Better?" he asked.

I nodded but I decided that I wouldn't let this maniac off the hook so easily. I turned the camera to me then made a firm and blunt statement, hoping to insult the maniac.

"Go suck an egg."

I placed it back in the position that Chris put it in before, now feeling satisfied with myself on getting that done.

"Now that's better."

I could hear Chris quietly chuckling. I wasn't sure if he was laughing at my insult or the statement I made after that.

I turned to continue heading down the hall, still looking for anything interesting or gang could give some clues. I stopped in my tracks when I saw a creepy doll head that looked cracked and dirty. The look of it caused a chill to run up my spine. Perhaps it was enough to give me cold feet to the point that I wanted to put it down on the counter, but I let my curiosity tell me otherwise.

I picked it up then examined the doll head more closely. So far, nothing out of ordinary but the face of the baby began to wear on my mental state.

"Just when you think it can't get any creepier," I muttered.

Before I put it down, several cockroaches crawled out of the mouth, causing me to drop it on the counter in complete shock. It was, disgusting to say the least.

Sighing, I followed Chris down the area when I heard a bang that was quiet that it didn't scare me as much as other things but loud enough to catch my attention. Some dust poured down and made some smoke surround us.

"Uh, what was that?" I asked.

"Wait, there's a whole 'nother room through here. It's mammoth."

"Chris, I don't know if I want to keep going."

"Where in the world are we now?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Did you know this was here?"

"This? This is like a whole 'nother hotel. I had no idea this was here."

We stopped in the middle of the hall and my head began to ache dully. It had dawned on me that this night had been incredibly eventful, to put it kindly.

"I don't think I can take any more of this," I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah, I'm about at my limit here too," agreed Chris.

"All I wanted to do was to forget last year ever happened," I said, the images from last year flooding through my head.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what Hannah thought she was doing," said Chris.

"Yeah, well... you know how it is when you're crushing pretty hard on somebody."

"Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard from again?"

I paused and tried to choose my words carefully. The images still flashed in my head, causing my headache to get worse. The pang of remorse that I felt earlier came back again and slapped me across the face.

"If it was you, don't you think you would use run away?" I asked, looking up at Chris. "I mean, who likes being made fun of?"

"People don't make fun of me," chuckled Chris.

"To your face," I specified in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"What?" Chris looked confused.

"Chris, we made her look so stupid, in front of all her friends and the guy she likes," I explained, the remorse still flooding in my mind. "I can't imagine doing anything worse to somebody."

I turned away to lead the way down the hall again. Down the end of the hall, I noticed something lying on the ground. It looked like a bracelet, but whose was it?

I picked up the bracelet to examine it more closely. It looked so familiar and then, a sudden wave of horror flashed through my head.

"Oh no, it's Sam's bracelet and she never takes this thing off."

Just for good measure and if in case we found Sam and possibly give the bracelet back to her, I put the bracelet in my pocket. No way I wanted to just leave it on the floor.

I saw a package that looked to be addressed to someone. I peered at them more closely to see the address, given it was rather dark in here, despite having my flashlight on hand.

 _18th August 2014_

 _Return Address:_

 _Quality Copy Ltd._

 _2100 - Clarke Ave. SW,_

 _Edmonton,_

 _Alberta,_

 _T6N 8J5_

Something looked awfully fishy. I peered at the newspapers to get a better look then noticed that they looked fake. My eyes widened a bit in shock.

"Hey, these, are these fake?" I wondered, still studying the newspapers. "Why would anyone make fake newspapers?"

"That's a really good question," answered Chris, who had peered behind me to take a look as well.

I shook my head, then I stood up and continued to lead the way. However, much to my shock, there were stairs that seemed to be leading somewhere but I wasn't sure what.

Suddenly, a horrible thought rushed into my head. Something about the maniac will be somewhere or more ghosts would try to scare me. I stopped, dead in place, shaking my head.

"You know what? No."

"Ash—"

"No! I've had enough!" I said firmly. "I'm not going down any further into this nightmare, Chris."

"Ashley, I understand, okay?" Chris tried to reassure me. "I'm really freaked out too. But if Sam's down there all alone with a maniac, and we just leave? We're basically killing her ourselves. And god knows if the same maniac probably has Imi somewhere and she could possibly be dead or something. We'd be killing her too ourselves."

I took a moment to let his words sink into my mind. My headache was slowly beginning to get better and I knew I couldn't do that to two of our friends. It hurt me to think about leaving them completely alone and I didn't even know if they had met up with each other or if they were separated. The last time we saw Sam was when she was going upstairs to take a bath. The last time we saw Imi was when we were trying to look for clues after the seance. Abandoning our friends like that would be absolutely wrong.

"Why are you always right?" I wanted to know.

"I'm not always right," stated Chris.

"When you're right, you're right."

"I don't want to be, I wanna leave."

"No," I said, trying to put in as brave it a voice as I could. "We gotta find Imi and Sam."

We turned to the stairs then walked down them. On the way down, I had a sudden nagging thought in my head. Something about what we found was beginning to add in place together. I knew I had to say something about it.

After making it to the bottom of the stairs, I stopped in the middle of the hall then turned to Chris.

"Chris..." I began. "I'm getting a really weird feeling from all this."

"What do you mean?" wondered Chris.

"So, we're saying that the same guy who made the newspapers also set up the camera, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"It's just... it feels like he's constructing this whole story for us... then watching us run around, freaking out, seeing what we do, like it's... like it's some sort of fucking experiment," I concluded.

"Yikes, that, that's kinda, that actually makes a weird sort of sense," said Chris, nodding in agreement.

"Right?"

We continued to walk down the dark hall that felt like it was getting colder and colder every minute. I continued to shine my flashlight everywhere for anything out of the ordinary, and also to help us see better. I tried to calm myself down from my continuing fear of being in the dark, but it felt like I was failing to do so.

I stopped at the end of the hall, wondering where I should go. My eyes scanned around the area, my mind racing.

"Are you alright, Ash?" asked Chris.

I turned to him and noticed the concern on his face. I couldn't blame him for asking that, given how much we had been through, especially with how much shit had been flying at us.

"I don't know, Chris," I answered uncertainly.

I decided to turn left to see if there was anything interesting there. Straight ahead, I saw a battery and timer on the ground. I walked closer to it then squatted down to get a better look at it.

"Huh," I murmured.

After another few seconds, I stood back up then continued to lead the way down the hall. My mind continued racing as I continued down.

I suddenly found myself in a much darker area, later slowing down my walking. My eyes darted around my surroundings just when I heard a loud shut of a door closing. I turned behind me then gasped in surprise.

I turned back then noticed some hooks and chains hanging on the wall. I took a few steps closer to her a better look at it. My mind raced again, and seeing this stuff sent horrible images in my head.

"Oh jeez, this is so enticing," muttered Chris.

"Oh boy," I said, shaking my head. "You think all this stuff is... his?"

"Unless the Washingtons were into some freaky shit in their spare time, then yeah, probably," agreed Chris.

Shuddering, I turned away then noticed what appeared to be multiple pictures straight ahead. I walked closer to get a better look, hearing Chris's footsteps behind me. I stopped when I was just less than a foot away from the pictures. I immediately recognized the pictures on the wall. I scanned from left to right and top to bottom: me, Sam, Josh, Jess, Mike, and Emily. What was more unsettling about this was that Josh's eyes crossed out in his picture.

"That's us," I gasped, shuddering.

"What is this, like a fucking hit list?" said Chris. "Christ!"

I couldn't answer him but in the back of my mind, I didn't doubt that he was right. The thought sent a chill down my spine, making me feel colder than I was before. I began to shiver a little bit.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed something hanging on the wall. Deciding to take a better look, I walked away from the hit list then headed to the thing I saw. I was about a foot away when a horrible smell hit my nose like a punch to the face. I looked up then saw a dead pig with blood dripping out of its mouth. It looked like its stomach was cut open and the only thing that could be seen was its ribs. The sight and the smell caused me to gag.

"Oh no, you have got to be kidding me! Repulsive!" I cried, pinching my nose to try to prevent the smell.

"This can't be for eating," stated Chris.

"Why the hell is that here?" I asked.

Chris just shrugged. I couldn't blame him to be honest. Something about these pigs seemed to be getting fishy and I wasn't sure why.

"It's like a goddamn grindhouse movie in here," commented Chris.

I didn't speak but I did nod in agreement. After another moment, I walked away from the dead pig before I got close to feeling like I was going to vomit. It was too disgusting to look at.

I continued down the hall, Chris still behind me. So far, nothing out of the ordinary was seen from either one of us, but the silence still kept me on high alert. I tensed up every minute, the fear still clinging deep into my mind.

I stopped when I saw what looked to be two different ways. Straight ahead was a closed door. To my right was another hallway that was leading somewhere. I wanted to see what was in the right hall, but my curiosity wanted me to check if the door was at least unlocked and able to be opened.

I ultimately decided to see if the door was unlocked. I walked straight ahead for the door. Much to my surprise, the door opened when I turned the knob. Straight ahead, I saw a projector standing on a lone desk. There was nothing else in this room. Curious, I walked to the projector then I turned it on. I heard a click, causing me to jump. I turned to see that the light of the projector was on and it shone on the wall it was directed to.

"Hello?" called Chris.

A video began to show on the wall and the voices were becoming so much more familiar. A horrible sinking feeling hit me like a punch and my stomach turned at seeing it. I swallowed hard before I spoke.

"Oh god, Chris, it's from last year. The stupid prank."

"Uh, this is a little... a little uncomfortable, huh?" Chris asked, turning to me.

I remembered that Matt had recorded the prank and I was just an onlooker. Most of us were drunk at the time but didn't hinder how horrible I felt after the prank. Seeing Hannah in the video brought a pang of sadness into me.

"I've never seen this video," I said quietly. "She's just so..."

"So, what?"

"She's so excited and alive."

"She has no idea."

The laughs from the video were like wicked witches ringing in my head. It got harder to watch, and I knew my involvement was bad enough, even though it was the absolutely minor. It hurt my heart.

"Oh jeez," I muttered, shaking my head.

"Whoa. I forgot you were such a willful participant," Chris said.

I looked down at the ground, desperately fighting the tears that were threatening to stream down my face. Sure, Hannah was naive but despite that, it was absolutely horrible to humiliate her in the fashion that was done in the video. The worst part was seeing myself somehow enjoying it. My remorse was brutal to the point that I began to feel a lump in my throat. I knew I was on the verge of crying, but I forced myself to not do it. Instead, I looked up at Chris with absolute sorrow in my eyes.

"This is horrible," I whispered sadly. "I couldn't feel worse."

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," said Chris, gesturing to the video.

"That's the worst part, isn't it?" I said, with absolute regret. "We were playing a joke. It was suppose to be funny."

"Yeah."

I turned to the video, the regret and remorse still hitting me like a pang.

"I never want to see this video again," I said honestly.

In the video, there was Hannah slowly turning to us. She looked so alive, making the remorse I felt her worse. She blinked once then said one word.

"Hi."

That was it. Suddenly, Hannah was replaced by a horrifying figure with sunken eyes, which ended up screaming. After that, the screen went to black. The whole thing caused me to jump in fear and I whimpered, worried for my life and my friends' lives.

"Oh Chris!" I cried, trying to hold onto the sliver bit of sanity I had left. "What is going on?"

"Ash, slow down, okay?" Chris tried to reassure me.

"I can't handle this!" I cried, the panicking state of my mind taking over everything, now knowing these scary things weren't over. "Ghosts, and these videos, and everything just flying around!"

"Calm down! Listen to me for a second!"

"What? Calm down! Why should I calm down, Chris? I'm freaking out right now!"

"This has got to be someone messing with us."

"What?" I was too freaked out to think properly.

"Think about it, ghosts don't hook up video cameras," explained Chris. "They don't play games."

"Then who would set this all up?" I asked, desperate for an answer. "Seriously, I'm asking."

"I don't know," replied Chris. "Maybe the same person who tied you up and killed Josh. The same person who might have Sam right now. The same person who also might have Imi hostage or something."

"Maybe you're right," I muttered, remembering my point from earlier that someone was trying to construct a story for us to freak out like it was an experiment.

"I wish I wasn't," sighed Chris.

Shaking my head, I turned to leave the room then headed for the other direction. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw blood on the floor. My blood ran cold as my mind began to think about whose blood it could be.

"Oh crap," said Chris. "Look at that."

"Blood?" I said, somehow in a desperate attempt to hope that it actually wasn't blood on the ground and that it might just be ketchup.

"Might be Sam's," stated Chris, heading for the door straight ahead. "Or Imi's. Let me see if I can get this."

He tried to pull the door open and from I could see, it looked heavy.

"Ash, I got this but, damn!" gasped Chris, trying to hold the door open. "This thing is heavy—"

"Be careful!" I said.

"You gotta come through, Ash. I can't hold it! Come on!"

I was about to take a step forward when I noticed a figure from the corner of my eye. I couldn't tell who it was, but I told myself that maybe it was just Sam or Imi. If we could try to find a way to get whoever it is, we could them out of there and then help the other. Maybe I could go over by the window to see if it was actually Sam or Imi.

"Chris!"

"What?" he asked, still struggling with the door.

"I think I saw Sam or maybe Imi over there!" I said, pointing to the window.

"Ash, are you sure?"

"I don't know but come on. I think we should check it out."

"Well, I'm pretty sure whoever's bleeding came through here, okay?" insisted Chris. "So, we really gotta get moving, like now."

I looked back and forth between the window where the figure was and the door that Chris was struggling with. I had to think fast but I wasn't sure what to choose. My mind was racing, and I began to feel a slight headache start to come.

It was then at the last moment when I began to have a nagging realization that maybe the figure where I was pointing to maybe wasn't Sam nor Imi. Maybe it was the maniac. I had made my decision.

"Okay, you're right," I said, coming to the door to get to the other side. "I'm coming."

After I rushed in, Chris let go and the door slammed shut. I felt bad for Chris for having to hold open the door because of how heavy it was.

"Damn, I thought that thing was gonna crush me," said Chris.

I let out a quiet chuckle at his comment, still feeling sorry for him.

We continued down the hall when I noticed something to my right. I peered closer to it then recognized that it was some kind of freezer machine. The air around me got much colder than before and I shivered.

"I don't get it," I said, my voice slightly shaking. "Why would anyone want to make this place any cooler? It's freezing."

"God knows what's going up inside of this guy's head, Ash," said Chris.

I immediately turned away from the machine, refusing to let myself freeze to the point that I would either die or turn into a human popsicle.

I continued down the hall for anything interesting. So far, nothing out of the ordinary which was good. However, I did see another hallway not too far from where I was. I continued walking there until I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw something hanging in front of some more dead pigs. It was a scary looking dummy with a clown face and wearing...

"Wait, those are Sam's..." I stammered, my heart hammering in my chest with terror.

"Yeah, those are Sam's clothes," Chris helped out with the words. "That's just..."

"Sick," I interrupted. "I'd say that's just sick."

"So, the psycho has been down here, for sure," said Chris, examining the dummy.

"Do you think he's still down here?"

"I hope not."

"Why is this thing even here?"

"Million-dollar question."

I was absolutely terrified. So, there was a dummy wearing Sam's clothes. I remembered hearing that Sam wanted to take a bath. This gave me a thought that maybe the psycho had taken her clothes while she was bathing. This was not a good sign, especially for Sam.

And so far, there was absolutely no clue as to what the maniac had done with Imi, if he possibly had her too. I was even beginning to doubt that she and Sam likely crashed into each other along the way. Sam had refused to see the spirit board while Imi, still suspicious, was rather intrigued enough to see the stuff go down.

"I don't even think Sam and Imi even saw each other since Sam went upstairs and we were doing the spirit board thing," I said quietly.

"This is not a good sign for both of them especially," replied Chris.

I turned to see double doors with windows. I had a feeling that maybe either Sam or Imi could be in there. Without a second thought, I pushed the door open.

I walked in the room to see a chair with a figure sitting on it. Unlike earlier, the figure looked to be real and not a dummy. My mind raced again as I took a step closer to see who it was.

"Oh, Chris, oh no," I groaned.

"Hello?"

"Sam? Imi?"

I turned the chair around to see Sam sitting down on the chair. She was wearing a towel, her head tilted downward. My eyes widened with absolute fear for Sam and I was beginning to fear the worst.

"Sam!" I cried. "Chris, is she dead? Holy shit—"

I whimpered a bit, feeling that maybe I had to take some time to mourn over Sam's state.

"She's not dead," said Chris.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"She's still breathing," said Chris.

"What the hell is wrong?"

"She's been knocked out."

"This is bad. We got to get her out of here and find Imi, now!"

I suddenly heard Chris grunt. I turned back to see the maniac had a gas machine and he had a hold on Chris, trying to knock him out. My eyes bulged open in shock and fear, now fearing for my friend.

"Chris!" I cried.

He didn't answer. I noticed he was now lying on the ground, knocked out by the gas. I was on my own against the maniac. I had to fight back.

"Oh shit," I muttered, keeping a firm grip on the flashlight.

Remembering the pair of scissors, I picked up from the basement earlier, I pulled the scissors from my back pocket. I kept a firm grip on it, ready to use it in self-defense.

"No! Get back!" I shouted. "Stay the hell away from me!"

I quickly positioned my arm then hit him square on the shoulder. The maniac grimaced and groaned in pain then turned away, as if he were going to walk away.

I smiled, satisfied with the good aim I got. Unfortunately, I heard him let out an angry hiss and I knew that he was angry. He wasn't through with me.

"Oh no no no no no," he hissed. "Live and learn!"

"What?" I cried.

The maniac turned to me then hit me in the face with his fist. I fell down to the ground, feeling the darkness close in on me.

"Live and learn."

That was the last thing I heard before the world around me imploded into darkness. I didn't know where I would end up next. It wouldn't even be known until I woke up.


	24. Tower

*Matt's POV*

The sounds of the elks got closer as Emily and I continued to slowly take steps back. Were they really itching closer to take a bite from us or something?

I remembered the cliff that I saw earlier when I saw the danger sign. I refused to risk have either me or Emily to fall but at the same time, I didn't want to piss off the elks. Either way, it was a scary ass situation, but I had to keep under control.

"Just stay calm," I whispered to Emily when I noticed her trembling. "They're just deer—"

"No, Matt," she whimpered nervously, shaking her head. "They're gonna hurt us."

I didn't say anything else in reply. All I did was wave my hand at her, signaling her to stay calm. It was a scary situation that we were in, but I had to find a way to get us out of here, alive.

My concern was trying to find a way to pass through these elks without having any one of us dying. I still had the axe in my hand, at least for good measure.

Emily and I slowly walked through the crowd of elks as they moved out to let us through. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get ourselves back on track.

Unfortunately, that ended when one elk wouldn't let us through. It didn't look very pleased to see us as I tried to think of a way to pass through him.

I had to think quickly on how to get out of this mess. I could just hit the elk with the axe but something in the back of my mind told me that I shouldn't do such a thing. Hurting an animal seemed just wrong.

I motioned Emily to follow me, keeping as stealthy as we could so that none of us would disturb the other elks at all, let alone harm them. And things went exactly as planned. The one troublesome elk even went ahead and let us pass through.

After walking pass the elks, Emily and I quickly ran out of that area then continued down the path to find the fire tower. We were determined to find it and possibly a radio, if there was one, in order to get the help we need.

*Emily's POV*

After climbing up the rocks, Matt jumped down then helped me down as we prepared for our mission. I wasn't going to let any other unknown interruptions stop us from getting to the fire tower.

I led the way down the snow-covered trail with Matt following close behind. I held on to the flashlight, waving it around my surroundings a bit so that we could see where we were going. There was no use in getting lost or even tripping in this weather. None of us would risk such a thing.

"If we do manage to get someone on the radio," I began.

"We will," Matt interrupted.

"Then we tell them we need help," I continued.

That was the first thing to do on our list of things to do. Suddenly, a thought came into my mind. What would we do after that?

"What do we do while we wait?" I asked.

"We go back to the lodge and get everyone else," Matt suggested.

I shook my head at the thought. As far as I was concerned, I was positive that the lodge would be the top place where the maniac would expect us to me. I had no desire to put myself and Matt in even more danger than we were before.

"Oh god, not the lodge," I groaned. "We should stay here. In case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us?"

"Let's get that radio working first," he said.

I nodded as we continued up the snowy path. The wind was still blowing but it was rather calmly. Around me, I heard crows, making this place seem even more unsettling than it already was.

Not too far ahead, I noticed some stairs that very much looked like they could lead up to the tower. Now this would be a good place to start heading.

We were just about to walk up the stairs when I heard something, causing us to jump. At the same time, a light turned on. It was intensely bright to the point that it nearly blinded my eyes.

"Ahh! That's freakin' bright!" I gasped, covering my eyes.

"No kidding!" Matt said.

I tried to squint to figure out the source of the light but no success.

"I can't see, what is that?" I said, still squinting my eyes.

"It's a security light," Matt answered. "Motion sensor probably."

I didn't disagree with him. If a motion sensor light was the real source of this, then it did do a damn good job at nearly blinding us. I had to take moment for my eyes to adjust to the sudden light before I led the way up the stairs.

Still holding my flashlight, I looked around for a way to get up to the top of the tower. The wind blew past, but it was still calm enough, even though it was freezing as hell.

I suddenly noticed something to my right. I shined my flashlight at whatever I saw, just to make sure I was seeing it correctly. Indeed, it was a ladder. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked up to the ladder, keeping a tight grip on my flashlight. I got on the ladder then climbed up without any issues of slipping, thank gosh.

It led me to another area like the one on the first floor of this place. I was quick to see another ladder as a I soon climbed up again. I didn't realize that there were quite some flights that I didn't exactly pay attention to how many I was climbing up.

On what felt to be the fifth ladder, I felt the wind blow harder than usual and the bitter cold hitting me hard. I shivered as I climbed up, wondering what was going on.

"Why is it so windy all of the sudden?" I asked, still climbing up.

"We're almost inside!" Matt said.

I continued to climb, not questioning at all because I was determined to get inside to find the radio. My legs began to ache from the constant climbing on the ladder, but I refused to let that slow me down. The most important thing was to get up in one piece, unscathed.

I looked up when I realized that there looked to be a hatch above me. So, this led to the inside of the tower. I sighed of relief as I pushed open a hatch then got up in the tower.

I looked down to see Matt quickly coming up. After he came up, he closed the hatch as I quickly brushed myself to get some of the snow off from earlier. We had finally made it to the tower. Now the next step was to find a radio around here.

"You alright?" Matt asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah," I replied.

I looked around the place to see if there was anything interesting to see. It wasn't long before I noticed a lone locker. I opened it, wondering what was inside of it but from the corner of my eye, I saw Hannah's "missing poster." Seeing it almost broke my heart as I read it carefully. Her picture showed the smile, like she was full of life.

"Sorry Hannah," I said sadly. "You're still missing."

I took a moment to reflect on what happened last year, now wishing it had a different outcome. Never did I think helping Jess create a prank would cause her to run away and never to be heard from again.

"After tonight, their disappearance is starting to make more sense," Matt said.

I didn't reply but Matt was likely right. The thought of it became much more devastating that began to wear on my mental state. It was saddening and sickening to think such a thing. I let out a sad sigh before turning away from the locker.

I looked around more to see a printer on the table. I pressed a button, but nothing happened. I shook my head, still curious about what could show but if there was no power, then I would have to find something to fire up the power.

"So, no power," I sighed.

I had to figure out how to get the power on in this place. If I didn't, there would be absolutely no way to try to get help and we would be screwed.

I looked around more before giving up and headed outside. I looked around then saw something rather eye opening. I opened a small metal cubby to see a red gun. My eyes widened at this as I wondered what it would do.

I picked up the gun, surprised at the weight of it in my hands. I examined it for a bit, thinking about my options. I could keep it to myself and give myself protection or I would do the same thing to Matt. I decided to give the gun to Matt. Matt fired as a flare ran up the sky. I jumped when I heard it and watched in amazement.

I heard Matt gasp in surprise.

"That oughta get someone's attention," I grumbled. "Hopefully someone who's not a psychopath."

I closed the door to the cubby. Matt nodded in agreement with my thoughts as we looked around more. There had to be like a fuse box here or something.

I noticed a fuse box. I eyed it carefully, just to make sure I wouldn't make a silly mistake when turning it on. After that, I turned on the switch, turning the lights on. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Fuck yeah! Here we go!" I said, relieved. "Score one for Matt and Emily."

"Nice work," Matt said.

We walked inside the tower and now I was determined to be able to check what was going on with the printer I saw earlier. I walked up to it, wondering what it had.

I pressed a button on the printer. Out came several papers, showing Beth's "missing" poster. It hit me with a huge wave as I just stared at it sadly.

"Sorry you're missing too, Beth," I said sadly.

Beth also looked like she was full of life in her picture. It saddened me greatly on a profound scale. I couldn't believe she and Hannah were gone after that one prank. I sighed before turning away from the printer.

I noticed the radio on a table with a microphone. I was relieved to see them there. That meant that there was actually a chance to get us both saved as well as our friends. I tuned to see if I could reach for help.

"—ranger service for Blackwood County, over," a male voice said.

I pressed on the button to allow me to speak on the microphone.

"Hello?" I said. "Anyone there? Hello? Please say something if you're out there. Please, we need help! Over! Over!"

No answer.

"Shit," I said.

I tried to tune the radio again, hoping the man on the other line would hear me clearly and that I would hear him clearly.

"Hello?" The same male voice asked.

"Oh my god!" I replied, relieved. "Thank god! We need help, please!"

"Hello, is someone trying to contact us? This is the park ranger service for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly, over."

I felt myself hyperventilating over everything. I was overwhelmed by the shit that me, Matt, and everyone else had been through tonight. Regardless, I was determined to tell the ranger that we had to get out of here soon.

"Please!" I cried. "Please, please, please, please help! On my god! We're stuck up on Blackwood Mountain and there's a maniac—"

"If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying, over."

"We need help, please!" I cried.

"Hello? Can you please identify yourself? Over."

I took a moment to calm myself down before I said anything. I didn't want to come off as super panicky or anything.

"My name is Emily," I said. "Hello?"

"You're not coming through clearly. Please repeat, over."

"We're on Blackwood Mountain by the ski lodge, there's a killer and after us and he's already killed one of our friends," I whimpered. "Oh god, please help! You've got to help up!"

I noticed the same light from earlier turn on, but I was determined to tell the ranger about our situation.

"Someone tripped the motion sensor," Matt said. "Probably a fucking deer."

I wasn't entirely paying attention but maybe he was right.

"I read you, ma'am," the ranger said. "Please do not leave your position. We will send helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided, over."

"What? When? How long?" I asked.

"Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over."

I heard a bang, which became continuous. I looked down to see it was coming from below the hatch. I jumped when I first heard it but then I realized what was actually happening.

"Jesus!" Matt gasped.

"Oh my god! He's here!" I panicked, backing away and leaning towards the window, hugging myself to protect myself. "He's coming for me!"

The banging stopped after about a few seconds but that wasn't the end of it. I heard a creak from below me and I didn't know why. I looked around, scared to find out what was going on, but I had to ask Matt.

"Oh my god!" I cried. "'Matt! What is happening!"

Silence fell between us for a few seconds as we tried to figure out what was happening.

"The tower!" Matt shouted.

He was right. The tower was tipping down as it carried me and Matt with it. I was scared.

I screamed then hit the window, causing me to blackout for only a few seconds.

I opened my eyes to see that my entire body was against the window. Different things from inside the tower fell. I managed to dodge them, but the windows did break. However, something else came forward at me and I was forced to do one thing because I had run out of areas to dodge the object in the tower.

I fell and was left hanging on a long strand of wood for support. Something else happened, causing me to scream and keep a tight hold on the wood.

The tower fell with me and Matt trying to hold on for dear life. I was scared shitless and I was forced to cling on if I didn't want to die here. I just shut my eyes, not wanting to see how far down the power would take us.

*Matt's POV*

I shimmied through the wood then climbed up, to them see Emily hanging on to the strand of wood, screaming for help. My eyes widened with horror when I saw her in this state. It scared me to death.

"Matt!" she screamed. "Help me! Please!"

"I'm coming!" I answered, trying to make my way to her without breaking anything, considering that it felt very unsteady.

"Em," I said nervously. "This is pretty unsteady over here."

Every step I took, a creak would follow from below me. It scared me to say the least, even though I was determined to figure out how to help Emily up without breaking the tower.

"Matt, you've got to do something right now!" Emily cried. "What are you waiting for?"

"I'm thinking! Let me think!" I said.

"Don't think you idiot!" she snapped. "Just get me out of here."

I felt even more uneasy than before. Here I was, trying to figure out a way to help Emily up in a safe manner. If it was possible, it would be tricky as hell. I had to think quickly.

"Emily, you need to calm down," I tried to reassure her. "You're gonna be fine."

"Ugh! Stop talking!" she grumbled, frustrated. "I can't take it!"

"Stop yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?" I yelled.

"No, you stop it!" she yelled back. "Why do you question every little thing I say? I'm goddamn sick of it!"

I sighed, exhausted from hearing this. All I wanted to do was help her up, not to argue like this. But there was no time to argue. I was going to get straight to the point and try to help her up.

"I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up," I said.

"Now will you please get me off this goddamned tower?" she pleaded. "Matt! Just do something!"

I took a deep breath then slowly tried to reach for Emily's hand, but the tower creaked below me. The wood below me was close to falling apart, making me stumble a bit. Both of us gasped in shock as the action.

I looked around me, wondering what other options I had. I was scared to take another step because it would mean that the tower would break and any chances to pull Emily up would slim down dramatically.

"I don't wanna tip it," I said.

My mike raced at what was going on. It was scary and dangerous to see Emily trying to hang on for dear life, but I worried for my own safety. It was hard to suddenly make a choice in this situation, but I had to make one, fast.

I noticed a platform path on the other side. Maybe I could jump there. That gave me an idea as I prepared myself to do it. I jumped to safety as the tower fell, taking Emily with it as she screamed all the way down until it stopped when I heard something stop.

"Emily!" I shouted in horror. "Emily."

I didn't say another word after that. The atmosphere around me suddenly grew silent. Not even a scream was let out. I already knew why.

Emily was gone. The thought caused a lump to build up in my throat, but I swallowed hard to prevent myself from crying. It wasn't time to cry for Emily. It was time for me to find a way out and survive.

…

 **Hey guys! This chapter was originally supposed to be before The** _ **Experiment**_ **, but I was an idiot and accidentally deleted it before it could make it on here. Luckily, I was able to get that fixed and now, the next chapter is currently in the works. I think I mentioned in a different story that I was going to make some major changes to this story. After the next upcoming chapter, that's when it'll really start. I'll mention one major change because it isn't a spoiler. This will be the last chapter in first person POV. After this, the rest of the story will be in third person, because POV changes is getting hella annoying. Thanks for bearing with me!**


	25. Treacherous Game

Chris woke up, finding himself stuck to a chair with his left hand strapped and stuck to the chair. The world around him felt eerily dark, but he couldn't pinpoint why. He took notice of a gun on the table in front of him.

Who the hell leaves a gun there? he wondered to himself.

It had taken him a while to notice that his head was pounding. He shut his eyes, trying to alleviate the pain, at least by a sliver, but it still bothered him. He just opened his eyes, the pain in his head was still there.

"Ugh, my fucking head," he groaned.

He took another look at his surroundings, wondering if this was just some messed up prank that someone decided to pull off. He took notice of his friend Ashley whose head was slumped down, and he was worried that she was dead.

"Oh shit, oh crap. Ash? Ash?"

The girl in question looked up at the young man calling her name. Chris was relieved to say the least, but then noticed that her left eye was black and swollen. His eyes widened in horror to see her like this.

"Aw, Jesus Ash, why did he do to you?" he asked.

"I think he hit me," she replied solemnly.

Chris was angry, and that was putting it lightly. He had a bit of a list as to why he was angry to see the black eye on Ashley. He was angry that the maniac probably had the audacity to punch the redhead to the point that she had gotten a black eye. He was angry that whoever the piece of shit maniac would have tortured him and his friend to the point that now, they were stuck here. Lastly, he was pissed that the maniac probably decided that it was okay to hit a girl at all.

"Shit, I'm gonna murder his fucking face off," he said, sounding furious.

"What is this?" Ashley was crying as she struggled to lift her arms, only to realize that her wrists were locked to the chair she was sitting in.

The blonde young man knew the answer right away.

"This is him," he said firmly. "This is the guy who killed Josh."

"No, Chris," sobbed Ashley. "Oh my god no. Oh god, Chris!"

"You murdering piece of shit!" shouted Chris to the ceiling, unsure if the maniac would show up, but he'd figured that he would give a warning. "You monster!"

"Look around! We're gonna die, Chris!" cried Ashley. "I don't think I'm ready to die."

"No one is going to die," Chris tried to reassure her, though he wasn't exactly so sure what would be their fates.

Ashley's thoughts changed to something different. Through her tears, she saw the very young man who she had a crush on for a long time. She remembered how much fun she had with him. She remembered that despite their few differences, their friendship to her seemed to blossom into something bigger. She wanted so badly to tell him how she felt, but now, she felt like that was beginning to slip from her fingertips.

"I wish I could tell you. It's just not fair!" The redhead cried harder.

Chris looked at her, confused to what the girl was saying.

"What? Tell me what?"

"It's too late. Chris, what's the point?"

"Stop it, just say."

"We're always talking around it, now, I mean, we've wasted everything."

"Ashley, none of it was wasted."

"What do you mean?"

Chris gave her a careful glance, looking at the girl who he had a crush on for a long time. He remembered the times he spent with her and he was beginning to realize how much he liked her. It was something beyond just friendship. He decided that if he and Ashley were going to die, the last thing he would mention to her was to confess how much he liked her. He had to do it now or never.

"Every second that I spent with you, was the only thing I ever wanted to do with my time," he confessed.

"What are you saying, Chris?"

"I'm sorry. I should have told you how I felt."

"Chris..."

"Ashley, I swear, when we get out of this- "

A horrible grinding sound cued up to interrupt Chris. He and Ashley looked up to see two saws slowly coming down towards them. Their eyes widened with horror.

"Oh god!" cried Chris.

Ashley was crying harder for a few seconds.

"No! Help, Chris!"

"Ashley, I'll you out of this, I won't let you die!"

"Hello there, my special little subjects." The victims looked around, the voice was all too familiar. The maniac.

"Aw, shit," muttered Chris.

"I'm so scared, Chris," said Ashley.

"Don't be scared," said Chris.

"Oh, you should be Ash," taunted the maniac. "Because here's the twist: Chris has made one fatal choice already today, and now, he must make another. Chris, you can take that gun in front of you and shoot Ashley, or you can shoot yourself. Whoever is left, can live. The choice is yours."

Chris couldn't hold back his anger at the maniac for causing so many atrocities. From capturing Ashley, to killing Josh, to possibly holding Sam and Imi hostage, to torturing him and Ashley, to punching Ashley in the face, to leaving them in another game of life and death. Chris was fuming that he picked up the gun then tried to shoot the saws, only for there to be no effect.

"Don't be so silly Chris," chortled the maniac.

Chris found himself stuck in a huge decision. Would he shoot Ashley to spare himself, or would he shoot himself to spare Ashley? Oddly enough, he found it easier than he thought to make up his mind as he pointed the gun to his neck. He was going to spare Ashley. He said that he wouldn't let her die, and he meant it.

Ashley though gasped when she saw him do this. It scared her to think that he would shoot himself, right in front of her. She couldn't let him do it.

"Wait, stop, you can't do it Chris," she sobbed. "It should be me. You chose to save me before, let me choose this time. Let me choose to save you. If I do one last thing in my life, let me do this. Chris, please, oh god. No!"

Even though he heard her plea, Chris refused to direct the gun to Ashley. He knew how scared she was and scaring her even more than how scared she was right now would add further damage to her sanity. He couldn't shoot her.

 _I won't let her die_ , he thought. _I told her I won't let her die. I'm doing exactly what I said I was going to do. She deserves to live._

He pressed the gun slightly further into his skin, his heart was racing from the profound panic. He knew he had to do this for Ashley.

"Oh fuck!" he hissed, prepared for what would come next.

The next thing to happen, Chris pulled the trigger. A sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the room. The next sound to erupt was complete silence.


	26. Torment of Truth

*Third Person POV*

The basement of the Washington Estate lodge was silent for several seconds, except for a quiet, mournful howl from the air. After that, the silence was interrupted when someone was crawling in the vent, heading towards the basement. Even through the darkness, it wasn't too hard to see the figure's sneaker hit the vent hatch three times, the next harder than the last.

At last, the latch opened, and the figure got out, revealing herself to be Billie. Internally, she felt herself shivering and she was positive that it was because she was cold, though something told her that what she experienced earlier was scary enough. She looked around her surroundings. This place seemed different, to put it lightly. It was completely unfamiliar to her.

"What is this place?" she wondered.

The raven-haired teen turned to her left, noticing a large grid on the wall. Figuring that investigating this grid would possibly give her answers on the psychopath that tried to attack her earlier, she slowly walked to the direction of the grid.

With a slowly trembly hand, she flipped the grid sheet then noticed a strange drawing. It was of a mannequin and something about pigs' blood and intestines. One part showed the mannequin was fully normal. The second part had the mannequin's bottom half of its body cut off. Billie's mouth hung open in horror.

"What?" she gasped. "Oh gosh!"

She shuddered at the image that was now planted in her head. Who drew this? What was this about? She didn't know.

She let go of the page she flipped over then turned away from the grid, wondering what more freaky stuff she could find in this place. In the back of her mind, she wanted to get out of here and find the others, but she knew she had to find answers about this psycho she encountered. She already had a bad feeling that he might have gotten to Sam and probably was now on hot pursuit for the others.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a drawer that was open by only a crack. Chills ran through her spine, but she told herself in her head that she had to check it out.

She walked towards the drawer then opened it. The only thing in it was a lone manila folder. The girl narrowed her eyes slightly, a bit miffed about what this was about. She took it out of the drawer then opened it to find a paper in it, the words on it clear enough for her to see.

 _Joshua Washington_

 _Final Psychiatric Evaluation_

 _5/21/14_

 _Dr. A. Hill_

 _ **Confidential**_

"Oh shit," muttered Billie, realizing that this had to do with the boy who had a crush on her.

Another icy chill coursed its way on her spine as she slowly flipped to the next page.

 _ **Physician History**_

 _06/11/2006_

 _Jeremy Harris, MD_

 _Whale Point Surgery_

 _Referred on 04/02/2007 after incident at school_

 _04/26/2007_

 _Oliver Purkiss, MD, MPH_

 _Pastoral Wellbeing Center_

 _Referred on 10/19/2009 after incident at school_

 _10/23/2009_

 _Roisi Williams, MD_

 _Santa Buena Medical Center_

 _Referred on 12/09/2009 after disagreement over treatment_

 _01/03/2010_

 _Sarah North, MD, PhD_

 _Cranleigh Hospital_

 _Referred on 11/29/2013 after patient's response to drugs tapered badly_

 _12/19/2013 - Present_

 _Alan Hill, MD, MPH_

 _South-Western Psychiatry_

 _Referred on 3/14/2014 due to potential suicide risk_

"Huh." That was all the raven-haired girl could say before she turned to the next page.

 _ **HISTORY OF PRESCRIBED ANTIDEPRESSANTS**_

 _Fluoxetine (06/18/2006 - 01/24/2010)_

 _Patient reported that side-effects (headache, nausea) were becoming too severe, and wanted to change drug._

 _..._

 _Duloxetine (02/13/2010 - 11/01/2013)_

 _Patient claimed that the drug was no longer having any effect. Reported that his mood had badly worsened._

 _..._

 _Amitriptyline (11/29/2013 - 04/05/2014)_

 _Patient began self-medicating, taking stronger doses._

 _..._

 _Phenelzine (04/15/2014 - present)_

 _30 mg dose. Twice daily, increasing to three times daily after 2 weeks._

 _If patient reports any of the following symptoms, please contact a physician IMMEDIATELY._

 _Side effects: hypotension, blurred vision, dizziness, insomnia, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle tremors, liver damage (hepatitis)._

 _On withdrawal: nausea, insomnia, nightmares, agitation, hallucinations, paranoia, aggressiveness, slurred speech, ataxia, catatonia, shocks_

Billie was a bit surprised to see the list that she saw. That was an awful lot of medication that Josh has possibly been on in his history. This was something none of her family members knew about. She turned to the next page.

 _ **SUMMARY OF TREATMENT**_

 _Patient arrived delirious/confused. Strong symptoms of major depressive disorder, related to death/disappearance of sisters._

 _Placed patient under observation._

 _ECT was considered, given patient's history of tapering drug effects, but rejected._

 _CBT, IPT, psychoanalysis, etc. failed to produce any improvement._

 _New course of drugs was necessary._

 _Patient moved onto a non-selective MAOI. Rationale being that SSRIs and SNRIs have proven ineffective in the past._

 _Phenelzine 60mg initially. Higher than average dose was necessary to see reduction of symptoms._

 _After 2 weeks, patient's symptom's and mood were greatly improved._

 _Discharged on 16th May after final consultation proved satisfactory._

 _Dr. Alan Hill_

"Oh my god," said Billie.

She knew that Josh had mental health issues but was never told about the degree of these problems. Out of the Washington siblings, she was always closer to Beth. Still though, regardless of how much she denied Josh's growing crush for her, she couldn't help but pity the poor guy.

He didn't always let her in fully on his issues. They had used each other as an emotional filler in the same way that Josh did with Sam.

Billie turned to the next page, her eyes widening at what she was reading.

 _ **OCEAN VIEW HOSPITAL**_

 _DATE: 05/16/2014_

 _INVOICE # 5132_

 _1 Pinnacle Drive_

 _Pacific Road_

 _CA 90187_

 _SHIP TO_

 _Washington Pictures Incorporated_

 _Valley Town_

 _Burbank_

 _CA 90321_

 _QTY. TREATMENT RATE AMOUNT_

 _30 Nights residence (observed) 395 11850.00_

 _1 Phenelzine (200x 15mg) 105.24 105.24_

 _1 Initial Consultation 750 750.00_

 _14 Review Consultation (1 hour) 595 8330.00_

 _7 CBT (1 hour) 745 5215.00_

 _TOTAL: 26250.24_

 _PAYMENTS/CREDITS: 0.00_

 _BALANCE DUE: 26250.24_

"No wonder this family is rich," muttered Billie as she closed the manila folder.

Even though that was a lot of information for her to take in about her friend, it was stuck in her head and she found it hard to unsee. She shuddered as she turned away from the desk, refusing to look back at the psychiatric report.

She felt herself internally freaking out, but she was sure that she wasn't finished with finding clues here. If it meant being able to figure out who attacked her and who probably had Sam, she forced herself to continue.

"Get your head together, Bill," she said herself. "Your friends are counting on you. There's a psycho around. Find the damn information."

Her eyes fell upon a shelf across from the counter that had a cell phone on it. The thought of seeing a phone in the basement without its occupant was a little odd to her, but she kept her eyes peeled open for any clues.

Billie picked up the phone, then pressed the fairly large circle button at the bottom, allowing for the brightness of the phone illuminated the area around her. Already looking at the lock screen, which showed to be a forest, she easily noticed it to Josh's phone. She remembered that lock screen. She scrolled the unlock screen to show what appeared to be a Messages App. The recipient's messages were in blue while the sender's messages were in white. Billie read the text messages.

 _ **MESSAGES**_

 _Dr. Hill_

 _Tue. Jan 13, 09:47 AM_

 _DR. HILL: Hi Josh, it's Alan. I hope you don't mind me texting you, but this is important. I got your email. I don't think that your plan is going to help. I think you need to come to stop what you're doing and come to see me._

 _DR: HILL: Please, pick up your phone. I'm getting worried._

 _JOSH: LEAVE ME ALONE_

 _DR. HILL: Are you still taking your meds?_

 _JOSH: im fine_

 _DR. HILL: It's very dangerous to stop taking your drugs mid course Josh._

 _DR. HILL: Contact my office to make an appointment, please._

 _DR. HILL: Josh?_

 _DR. HILL: Josh, please respond._

Billie's eyes widened with shock as she placed the phone down. She wasn't expecting to see this at all. This Dr. Hill mentioned something about a plan. What plan? What email did Josh send to his doctor?

The eighteen-year old walked away from the shelf then headed down the hall. Several thoughts and conclusions began swimming in her head, casing a slight, dull headache to build up. Something felt incredibly off here to her.

Billie suddenly began to remember the conversation she remembered Josh and Chris having when everyone arrived at the lodge, before she and Chris went to find deodorant to unfreeze the door. Billie knee that Josh was a little strange with the way he worded stuff, but that conversation made her realize that Josh was acting weirder than before. Could what she had seen might add up to his behavior?

The thought of such a thing left an uneasy quiver in her body. Her heart began to beat fast and pound hard, her stomach began doing flips, and she began to feel slightly dizzy. She stopped in the middle of the hall, taking several deep breaths to keep herself conscious during her mission. Possibly fainting here would be the last thing she wanted to happen.

"Come on, Bill," she told herself. "Just hang in there."

She continued down the hall, noticing two big cardboard boxes. Behind it, she thought she noticed something like a bulletin board, but it was dark as hell and the boxes were blocking her view, so she couldn't come to such a conclusion.

She walked closer to where the boxes were, then moved one of them out of the way. What hung on the wall behind the box was indeed an average-sized bulletin board that one would often see in classrooms. There were several things hung up on the board, scattered across it with a few patchy spots left open for more things to fit.

There were six ribbons, a few note clippings, a bracelet, and four pictures. The ribbons seemed to be like a decoration on the board around the pictures and newspaper clippings. Billie recognized two of the pictures were Hannah and Beth's missing posters. Seeing the posters sent an aching wave of sadness in Billie, knowing it had been one year since her friends' disappearance and that Billie, herself, was almost added on that list, thanks to Josh who found her in time. However, the raven-haired teen strange that the pictures were here in the basement.

Two other pictures showed the twins' faces, once again leaving Billie a bit confused as to why they were kept here.

The last picture she saw on the board showed Emily, Hannah, Beth, Sam, and Billie herself, posing with smiles on their faces. Billie gave a closer peek at the pictures, noticing something eerily familiar about it. Usually, she rarely gave much care on what exactly she was wearing on any certain day. This though was different. She recognized Hannah's buttoned shirt, Beth's sweater and the beanie she had on, Emily's blue racer jacket, Sam's sweater, and her own parka jacket over her t-shirt. Those were the outfits the girls wore the night the twins disappeared. Billie was surprised to remember that part of the night almost as vividly as the prank and running after the twins.

However, she realized that there was more to this than just those things she took notice of. Over Sam's body on the picture, there was a sticky note that was tacked on with words: _**NEVER FORGET**_ in bold red.

"Geez," muttered Billie. "This obsession is strange enough."

Several thoughts ran through her head, the next now starting to piece things up more than before. She figured that whoever that psycho was that chased her had some sort of obsession with the twins. The next thought she had was that what if this whole job wasn't an involvement of some random criminal, but in reality, Josh might be involved in all of it. Billie knew how much Josh loved his sisters, so it made sense that Josh somehow played an involvement in all the shit that went down and put these things together.

These thoughts sent an uneasy chill down Billie's spine that quickly resonated all over her body. She was scared to think that the guy who liked her had somehow got involvement in this whole thing. What was even worse was that if Josh was really involved in all of this, Billie would feel betrayed. She trusted him and he trusted her. She remembered leaning to him after her mother's death and he leaned to her after Hannah and Beth's disappearance. If this was how Josh was going to repay her and possibly her friends, she was sure that she would damn well be scared of him for a while.

Billie turned away from the board then continued down the hall. The fact that her theories were beginning to sound truer every second was starting to weigh heavily on her.

The teen went into the next area of this huge basement, when she noticed a small window that seemed to lead to another room, and she thought she noticed a figure in there. Deciding to see for herself, she peered through the small window to see what she was seeing. Much to her horror, she saw the same psycho that chased her earlier there. He appeared to be looking at the several screens in front of him. After a few seconds, the psychopath walked away from the screens, prompting Billie to look away so that she could avoid being caught at all costs.

She turned away from the door then continued down the hall, shuddering to herself. It scared her that she could've been very close to getting caught by the psycho. Had she not looked away; her luck would've dropped to zero.

She continued down the hall, her eyes scanning around for anything that looked suspicious to her. Up ahead, she noticed a small flight of stairs to her left, but her eyes narrowed when she noticed something on a table that was close to the stairs. She walked closer to the table, trying to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible to avoid catching the psycho's attention, if he was somehow close to her. She stopped at the table, easily recognizing the item as a cassette player.

"Who on earth keeps this here?" asked Billie.

The reply she got was silence. She figured that maybe, she would play it for herself to see if more clues came out of this thing. Taking a shaky deep breath, she pressed the play button, then listened carefully.

"Hello and thank you all for joining me. Tonight, we're going to conduct a little experiment."

The voice sounded contorted and familiar to Billie. This was the voice of the psycho that chased her earlier. Her heart raced with profound fear that she couldn't exactly put her finger on. However, that wasn't all that was heard on the tape.

"Hello... hello, children... no... that's not right." A different voice sounded on the tape, this one all too familiar to Billie. Her heart began to beat faster than before, and her heart pounded harder at hearing his voice. It was Josh. Unfortunately, that wasn't all for Billie to listen to.

The voice that sounded like it was Josh made a sound that sounded like he was clearing his throat.

"Greetings, pilgrims."

The tape stopped playing and Billie's mouth hung open in horror and grief. This really did sound like Josh had heavy involvement in everything she saw earlier. It felt like he repaid her and her friends in such a horrid way.

"Oh my god!" she gasped.

Shuddering, she turned away from the cassette player then walked up the stairs, hoping that she didn't have to find more crazy stuff here. This was too much for her to take. She already had a horrible feeling that Josh was involved in all of this and now, this was starting to look like she didn't lie about this.

After making it up the stairs, Billie continued her way down the empty hall, now on a new mission to find her friends. Being separated from them for so long was starting to get to her. Going off alone was the last thing she expected to happen to her.

She was just about to head for a door on her left when she suddenly felt a sharp sting on her shoulder. She turned behind her to see it was the psycho. She was horrified, though she was beginning to feel a little drowsy and her eyes were starting to become heavy.

"I'm sorry, Bill," said the psycho in his contorted voice, stopping the girl from attempting to attack him.

That was the last thing Billie heard before she fell to the ground, and the world around her imploded into darkness. She had no idea what was about to be in store for her now.

— — — — —

Billie slowly opened her eyes, finding herself to be lying on a table and her arms and legs were tied down. A horrible feeling sunk into her when she figured out that it was indeed the psycho who tied her down like this. She struggled against the ropes, but it was no use.

"Dammit!" she hissed.

"How about, less struggling and more staying here."

The raven-haired teen jumped as she scanned her eyes around her surroundings, wondering where the psycho was. She knew it was his voice.

"Try turning to your left, Billie."

She was hesitant, worried that this was some kind of joke, and facing her attacker was not what she wanted to do. However, she was also worried that he would punish her if she didn't, so she did exactly what she was told. There he was, the psychopath who chased her and attacked her. This time, he was holding a pair of scissors with his right hand.

"You're feeling comfortable there, Bill?" he asked.

She didn't answer. She refused to answer, refused to give him her words. Get out of here and find the others were the missions that were at the front of her mind.

"I suggest you relax here," continued the psycho as he circled around the eighteen-year old. "We're gonna be here for a good while."

"Piss off," said Billie in a quiet, but firm enough tone.

He didn't hold back his chortles at the girl. She amused him without even trying. He continued circling around her, his interest in her going high and mighty.

"I saved the best game for last," he said. "After the second part to the little game for Chris and Ashley. Now it's your turn, Billie. In fact, you weren't supposed to be part of my little game. Now, I have to fucking improvise. You're here, and I have quite a bit to show you."

Billie shook her head, not wanting to take part in this guy's possibly sick, twisted game. It scared her when he said that he had some sort of game with Chris and Ashley. She couldn't understand who would want to torment Chris and Ashley, two of her friends who she felt closest to, excluding the twins.

"Screw you!" she shouted. "Let me go!"

He chortles again as he watched the raven-haired girl struggle against the ropes. It seemed like such a pity that she was here, but she had to hang on.

"I'm aware that Joshua had a crush on you," he said. "Too bad that he has fallen. I shall do my bidding in his honor."

He carefully traced the scissors from her cheek, down to her chest. She shuddered, turning away from him, not liking where this was going at all.

"No wonder why Joshua had his sights on you," chuckled the psycho. "Billie, your beauty is untouchable. I ask for one request in Josh's honor."

Billie tried her hardest to get away from the ropes that restrained her, but the combination of the ropes and the psycho holding her down was no use. She was stuck his clutches.

"Billie, may I have this dance?"

Before Billie could answer, the psycho used the scissors he was holding to stab her on the right side of her chest, close to her shoulder. She couldn't hold back her loud, drawn-out scream of agony as her attacker just laughed at her pain. She was now sure that this kind of pain would be endless and that she was going to die, and he would have plenty of blood on his hands.

The psycho pulled out the scissors from the spot where he stabbed Billie, still laughing at her pain.

— — — — —

In the old hotel, Chris and Ashley were startled when they heard a loud, drawn-out scream from where they were. Chris was still holding the gun, but now he had it lowered while Ashley was still strapped down in her seat. The blonde and the redhead turned to each other, confused looks on their faces.

"That doesn't sound like Sam," said Chris.

Ashley's mind raced when she had carefully listened to the scream, knowing that Chris was right. However, her heart broke when she found out who it was that screamed.

"That sounds like Billie!" she panicked. "I think the maniac got to her too!"

"Oh shit," said Chris worriedly.

The worst part about this was that none of them would be able to help Billie, being stuck here because of that damn maniac. They could only hope that she was alright.

— — — — —

Down unfamiliar path that he had taken, Mike stopped in place when he heard a scream. It didn't sound like Jess at all, not even close. When it did occur to him on who he thought might've screamed, it worried him greatly.

"Oh fuck!" he hissed. "Billie! Where are the others?"

He cared greatly for Billie like a sister.

He continued down the path, hoping it would lead to where any of the others were. He was still grief-stricken over Jess's possible state and would do anything to get the asshole.

 **...**

 **Hey guys! I think after a while, I got tired of the name "Imi" in this story. After looking through baby name websites for a good name replacement, I came up with Billie, occasionally nicknamed Bill. Most of the things with the character are the same. She's a raven-haired teen, Josh's crush, good friends with the twins (especially Beth), her other friendships and personality are the same. The name change is one of the few big changes I have for this story. I'll also mention another change that'll happen. Remember those powers chizz I had for my OC? I'm taking them off now because I'm highkey Mary Sueing tf outta her. Back when I started writing this, I didn't even know what a Mary Sue was. Now that I do, it's best to treat Billie (formerly Imi) like a regular person trying to survive the night.**

 **I have a third Until Dawn story in the works that I won't spoil anything about, other than that the plot will pretty much go along with the game and that there will be at least one OC, maybe more? We'll see.**

 **Anyway, there are other changes coming in the next coming chapters. Hope you guys enjoy it and thanks for bearing with me!**


	27. Identity of a Psycho

Sam's eyes fluttered open when she heard a scream that startled her. She found herself tied to ropes on a chair. She groaned at the fact that she found herself here, positive that this was courtesy of the maniac.

"Sam?"

She blinked a few times, looking around to see who it was trying to call her name. Her eyes scanned around the area, still trying to figure out who it was calling her name. It certainly wasn't that maniac, judging by the voice.

"Sam?"

The nineteen-year old's eyes turned to a vent-like window and the face she saw gave her a smile. It was Mike, though his face looked a little roughed up. Who knew what he had gone through? Also, his girlfriend Jess wasn't with him. Something was off here.

Sam could see that Mike was gesturing her to come to him. She noticed that he had a machete in hand. She realized that once she scooted herself to him, he would use the machete to free her.

Using as much strength as she could even with her restraints that were tight on her ankles, she pushed the floor to try to scoot herself to where Mike was. Unsurprisingly, she found it harder than she thought, but it wasn't long before she made her way to the brunette guy.

Mike quickly went to use his machete to cut the restrains that tied Sam's wrists together. Shortly after, he had set her wrists free. He handed her the machete, allowing her to use it to cut the restraints that tied her feet together. She finally cut herself free, though she was surprised to actually feel free after being stuck in this damn chair.

"Damn, those things were tight!" she hissed.

She knelt to the window to see Mike's face. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing him again. She was free and now, she had quite a bit to tell him.

"Oh, thank god you found me," she sighed.

"It's okay," reassured the brunette. "You're okay."

The blonde's mind was still on the other blonde girl and the raven-haired girl. This was especially on the account that Jess wasn't with Mike and the scream had startled her, Billie being nowhere in sight wasn't reassuring.

"Where's Jessica?" asked Sam in a worried tone. "She's not with you."

The profound grief hit Mike square in the chest. The thought of Jess's death had scared and saddened him greatly. Despite this, he knew he had to be honest with Sam. She was a very charitable young woman after all.

"Jessica is dead," he answered in a grief-stricken tone.

"What?" Sam was shocked to hear the news.

"He killed her, Sam," continued Mike. "There's some maniac on the mountain who is trying to kill us. All of us. And I swear to god, when everyone is safe and accounted for, I am gonna hunt that fucker down and rip his nuts off one at a goddamn time."

"Whoa," said Sam.

Her thoughts suddenly changed to the events that happened to her earlier. From taking a peaceful bath, to being chased by a maniac, to being caught by him. She couldn't believe this all happened to her from that guy.

"Listen," she began ready to recite everything she saw to the brunette. "This guy who you're talking about, he attacked me. He showed me these videos too, and one of them showed Josh being killed, just ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade!"

"Jesus Christ!" gasped Mike in shock from hearing her story.

"And," continued the blonde, her concern picking up again, but this time, it was for the raven-haired girl. "Did you hear that scream earlier?"

Mike's expression went from grief to horror, remembering when he was startled by a scream from one person who he was sure it came from. It pained him greatly.

"It's Billie," he answered. "She sounded like she was in pain. I don't know where she is."

A horrible thought rang into Sam's head when she heard Mike say this. By the sounds of it, he cared for Billie almost as much as he cared for Jess. However, she couldn't blame him because he had almost got with Billie at one point, though she had politely rejected. This still didn't hinder worried thoughts for Sam that her friend's status was looking unknown.

"I think the maniac got to her too," she muttered.

Mike's heart began to pound, taking notice that the building concern he felt for Billie was almost as brutal as the concern he felt for Jessica earlier. He had no idea speaking of it would be this bad.

"Oh fuck!" he hissed. "What the fuck is going on around here?"

He eyed the blonde, as if he were about to instruct her to do something. And he was.

"There's a door here. It won't open. Can you unlock it from your side?"

Sam nodded then stood up, now determined to find a way to let Mike in. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that her backpack was sitting at a nearby chair. Did the maniac just leave her backpack here, as if he were expecting her to get it? Considerate much?

The thought of the maniac possibly playing considerate made the blonde chuckle as she went to get her backpack. She went to open the door in front of her, then walked down the dark hall, trying to find the door that Mike needed her to open.

After walking down the hall, she noticed a door, but there was a long plank of wood that appeared to be blocking it. This slightly amused her.

 _Oh, so that's why Mike said this door won't open_ , she thought, nearly chuckling to herself.

She moved the plank of wood out of the way of the door, then opened it. There was Mike, and Sam paid much closer attention to his features. He looked more roughed up than she thought. His face and even his clothes were dirty, though he was only in his undershirt and an unfamiliar olive-green jacket.

"Gee, you look like hell!" she hissed.

"Nice to see you too," he chortled.

He noticed that she was heading to the wall then placed her backpack down the ground. This puzzled him a bit.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She turned to him; a slight smirk was shown on her face.

"Well, actually," she said. "The towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know."

She noticed that he was still staring at her, though he had a bit of amusement in his eyes. She wanted to change into different clothes, but she didn't want Mike to be staring at her.

"Do you mind, Mike?" she asked, gesturing to Mike to look away.

"Oh!" chuckled Mike, realizing that he had to turn away so that he wouldn't watch Sam changing.

— — — — —

Billie looked at her surroundings, noticing that the psycho was gone. Now, she could find a way to break out of the ropes that tied her to this damn table. She wasn't going to wait for someone to get her, she was strong enough to help herself, even though she was having to deal with the pain on her shoulder from the wound she received earlier.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of scissors that was inches from her left hand. To her, they looked like the one that the psycho had used when he stabbed her earlier, it would've bewildered her, if it was the exact same one, and he managed to leave it for her, as if he were expecting her to be freed either with or without help. She had a feeling that trying to free her left hand would be challenging, but she told herself that she had to try.

She got hold of the scissors, now trying to use as much strength as she could to cut the rope, because the rope was thick. It took at least ten cuts before she officially freed her left hand. Smiling a bit to herself, she moved onto her right hand, also taking the same amount of tries before she cut her right hand free.

"Now it's just cutting your legs free," she said. "Come on, Bill."

She used the scissors to first cut the ropes that tied her right foot to the table. This time, it was tougher than she realized and the strength that she was using was making her hands shake.

"Come on," she groaned.

After trying for the fifteenth time, she finally freed her right leg from the ropes. She now had to free her other leg. The process was just as challenging as it was when she tried to cut the rope that tied her left leg to the table. At last, she was finally free. Her next step was to find Sam, Chris, and Ashley. She had to break the news about what she saw and what happened.

— — — — —

After changing into a white shirt, red jacket, grey yoga pants, and sneakers, Sam smiled to herself. She was now satisfied that she didn't have to confront a maniac clad in only a towel. She still surprised herself that her towel didn't fall off the many times it could've potentially fallen off.

"Time to put this thing to bed," she said.

"Amen to that," agreed Mike.

They were interrupted when they heard a door open. They turned, almost expecting it to be the maniac, but they sighed in relief to see the figure was too short and too small to be the maniac.

It was Billie. However, the girl looked like she had been through hell. There a hint of agony and shock in her eyes, like she had seen a ghost and presumably been tortured by one.

Much to Billie's surprise, Mike was the first to run to hug her. She returned the hug, seeing how much he cared about her, even if she had originally rejected dating him. He let her go after a few more seconds of hugging her.

"What happened to you?" asked Sam, pointing to the wound on Billie's chest.

Billie swallowed hard before she answered.

"The psycho," she said, her voice sounded incredibly pained. "He stabbed me."

"Oh fuck!" hissed Mike, angry to hear how his friend got hurt.

"Guys, I need you to hear me out," continued Billie. "I think that somehow, Josh is involved in all of this."

"What?" gasped Mike and Sam in unison. "How?"

"There was a text message from his doctor that mentioned some kind of plan that was a bad idea," answered Billie. "It's crazy if you ask me."

Mike and Sam shook their heads in disbelief, finding it hard to wrap their heads around Josh being involved in the maniac's doings. They couldn't grasp it.

"I can't decide!"

The three friends heard this, eyes widening with shock. They knew who it was.

"Chris!" gasped Mike.

He and the girls ran to a door, pushing it open to find themselves in a completely different room. The lights turned on and there was Chris and Ashley sitting in chairs. Mike, Sam, and Billie stood there; eyes wide with horror.

A figure appeared from the dark, approaching towards Chris and Ashley, who were horrified. Ashley was shaking her head.

"No!" she shouted. "No, no, no, get away!"

Chris, who still held the gun in his hand, raised it to the psycho's chest, shooting him three times. Much to his horror, the masked man didn't fall to the floor. He just looked down, shaking his hand at the blonde man.

"Oh Chris," he said. "Oh Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris..."

"What the fuck?" Chris was beyond baffled to see that this man was still standing.

"You've heard of blanks before?" asked the psycho, circling around the two friends sitting down. "I mean, really?"

He stopped just inches from Billie. He took off his gloves, then went to take off his mask. Everyone around him gasped in horror when they saw who the psycho really was.

It was Josh.


	28. Dangerous Adventure

Emily woke up to find herself hanging upside down. This surprised her and she wondered what was holding her up from completely falling to her possible death. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that it was some rope that was surprisingly strong enough to hold her up. She looked down to see how far down the ground was from her.

"Oh god!" she cried.

It wasn't just herself that her mind began racing about. Her thoughts shifted to Matt. He wasn't anywhere near her and this worried her. Was Matt dead? Did he make it out alive?

"Oh my god, Matt!" she called, hoping to hear him, but was met with nothing. "Matt!"

She struggled against the rope that was holding her foot, desperate to get out.

"Oh Jesus!"

She decided to try to stretch her body out to see if that would do anything to release her from the rope. Much to her dismay, it happened to no avail.

"Oh shit!" she groaned, still struggling against the rope.

The raven-haired woman suddenly stopped struggling when she noticed part of the bar that must've come from the tower from the corner of her eye. This gave her an idea, one that had to work. If it didn't, she didn't know what she would do next.

Using as much strength from her whole body that she could muster, she swung back and forth, stretching her body further and further to get herself closer to the bar closest to her. She swung back and forth about five times before she successfully jumped to the furthest bar. Much to her surprise, the rope that held her up broke apart, freeing her completely in the process.

However, the raven-haired woman realized that she couldn't celebrate just yet. She noticed a what looked to be a landing platform right across from her, and she knew she would have to monkey-bar her way to the platform if she wanted to get out safely. So, she did monkey-bar her way across, sudden creaking sounds didn't alleviate her growing fears and concerns.

She suddenly stopped when the creaking sound cued again. She looked up to see what was going on, her eyes widening, and her mouth hung open at what she saw. Much to her horror, she noticed a falling flaming piece of what she was sure was the tower coming down towards her. She was worried that this falling piece could either burn her or injure her.

Quickly thinking, she let her left hand go of the bar and the piece came down, passing her without injuring her. She sighed of relief before she realized that she had to go on. She had just two more bars to hold onto before she could find it safe to let go.

Emily continued, feeling her body slowly become sore, but she knew stopping at this moment when her life was in danger was a risk she was not willing to take. She forced herself to keep going with hope that this maniac that Chris and Ashley spoke about earlier wouldn't come try to track her down in this place.

At last, she felt comfortable enough to fall onto the platform, preferably without hurting herself. She let go of the bars, forcing her body to reach for the platform. Much to her relief, she made it, but the landing was a bit painful, given that she landed on her back on the platform.

The young woman sat up, looking up at the now fallen and broken tower above her. It humored her to believe that she survived that, after worrying about her possible death.

 _Huh, seems like you taught me this, Matt_ , she thought. _When I see you again, or when we get out alive, I want to apologize to you for being such a bad girlfriend._

The creaking cued up again, this time, it was louder than before. The brunette could see that the tower was once again coming apart and could potentially trap her if she didn't move out quick.

She scooted back as quick as she could, though watching the falling tower nearly paralyzed her from shock. Much to her dismay, she wasn't fast enough as a piece of tower came falling, though smaller than the last one she saw. This one though scratched her knee, making her cry out from the pain. She noticed that blood was oozing out of it and could potentially stain her jeans, though she realized that she had to put her perfectionist mindset on the back burner until she survived this already horrifying night.

She scooted back again, hoping that this time, she would be fast enough to avoid being hit at all. She watched the tower slowly break apart, until it came down fast. Much to her relief, she wasn't hit this time.

Emily got up on her feet, taking a little time to shake off the pain from her knee. She didn't realize it would hurt her that much, but despite the pain, she had to figure out something to help her move on.

She found this place to be rather creepy for a few reasons. She heard several screeches that sounded very much like an animal, but one that she didn't know of. It was also awfully dark but using her phone as a light source was the last thing she wanted to do, as she knew it would drain the battery.

She noticed a log that was in a large tin can close to her and a small fire close to her, an idea popped into her head. She was about to think about putting the wooden log in the fire, but she realized that if she did that, it would burn into ash, rendering the log useless in the end. She looked down at the hem of her top rather mournfully, realizing that using it would be the safest way to help prevent anything bad from happening.

She tore off the hem of her top then began wrapping around the top of the log. It pained her to do this, knowing how much she adored this top.

"Oh god," she sighed sadly. "Here goes six hundred bucks. Better be worth it, I looked great in that top."

After wrapping the hem of her top around the top of the log, the young woman carefully dipped the hem-covered log in the tin of oil, still hoping this would be worth it. She then took it out of the tin then lit it with the fire she came across earlier. She smiled to herself, the creation of her own personal torch was making her feel better about having to walk through this creepy place.

"Alright, now we're talking," she said, her voice was barely above a whisper, but still noticeably more cheerful.

Using her newly made torch as a source of light, she walked forward, this place was slowly becoming unsettling to her. More sounds could be heard, like screeches, but she told herself it was likely just some animal that was roaming in mountain. However, she heard it again, this time listening more closely. No way in hell did it sound human, but she was slowly beginning to doubt that it was some strange animal, but maybe some kind of monster.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice was quivering.

There was no answer, but the raven-haired woman began to assume that maybe it was because she was too quiet. However, she wasn't going to scream her lungs out for fear that someone or something could be on the lookout for her, especially the maniac.

Sighing, she continued forward, only to notice a fence from the corner of her eye. Out of her curiosity, she walked towards the fence, only to see an old, large mine cart alone on the track on the other side of the fence. This was enough to tell her something about her own whereabouts.

 _You're in a mineshaft, Emily,_ said a voice in her head.

Shuddering, she turned away from the cart and the fence, now beginning to hope that she would find a way out of this mess. Without much thinking, she turned to her left, hoping this could lead a way out of this damn mine. The hill downward was rather steep, but Emily found herself to be glad she wore the right pair of shoes, though she and her friends had no idea that this was what their weekend was going to end up starting with. Slipping would be the last thing she wanted, not to mention the secondhand embarrassment that she would suffer from.

Her eyes scanned at where the track seemed to start for the minecarts to travel. This place was becoming weirder and weirder every minute.

Shaking her head, she turned away from the track then took notice of a door on her right. Curious, she walked towards it in hope that she could find something interesting in it. She tried to open the door, but to no avail. It was locked.

The young woman huffed then turned away from the door, noticing another minecart from the corner of her eye. She was about to head towards the cart when something in her mind told her that there may be more things for her to look at.

Giving into her thoughts, she turned away from the cart, this place still vaguely giving her creeps. Despite that, she had to keep her head straight in order to survive and get out of here alive.

To her left, she took notice of a lone chest on the ground. She walked towards it then slowly opened it, though keeping low expectations on what could be in it. However, she was surprised to find a framed photo in the chest. She picked it up to get a closer look at it to see that the photo was of a group of miners. Intrigued, she turned the photo over to the back to see two notes, appearing to be written with either black ink or a sharpie for that matter. The handwriting looked scrawled, though didn't take too long for the young woman to make out the words on it.

The first written note appeared to be on the top right-hand corner of the frame.

 _The Blasting Crew_

The second note appeared to more front and center of the frame.

 _Preparing to dynamite the new shafts_

 _North West Mines,_

 _December 1951_

Emily found this even more intriguing than before, but she knew that she couldn't just sit here all day. She needed to find Matt and find a way out of this damn mine. She put the photo down then walked away from it, now looking around to see if there was anything else interesting.

Much to her dismay, there was nothing interesting around here. Just a dark place as she shined her torch in the darker areas for better light.

She headed for the minecart that she found earlier, now wondering what she could do. She examined it carefully, wondering how to work this cart. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a lever beside it, very much could be used to allow the cart to go. She pulled the lever, though it did take a little effort on her part.

After she pulled the lever, the cart begin the roll down, faster than she thought. Quickening her walking pace, she followed the rolling cart, only to see it break through the door because of its speed. It did eventually stop when it hit the buffers, though not hard enough to make it flip over or topple over.

Relieved that the door was now open courtesy of the minecart that broke it, the young woman walked to the door and noticed what looked to be a torch that needed light that hung against the wall. Remembering her own little torch she created earlier, she used it to light up the torch on the wall, allowing for there to be more light. She smiled to herself before turning away from the torch, wondering where to head to next.

Taking notice of what appeared to be a mine elevator, she looked at it curiously, wondering if it still worked or not. Just by the look of it, it was rusty and old, and she wasn't sure if it worked or not. Deciding to play it safe for the moment, she walked away from the elevator to find anything interesting in this place.

Dead ahead, she saw what looked to be some kind of machine that at first from the distance that she was from it, she couldn't tell what it was. She slowly walked closer to it, only to see that it was a clock-in machine, likely for the miners to clock themselves in and out of work here. She was sure working in this mine seemed dangerous by the looks of it, especially with how old and nearly decrepit the elevator looked. The thought made her shudder.

She walked away from the clock-in machine, only to be rudely interrupted by the sound of someone's flamethrower going off. The sound startled her enough that she jumped and screamed without thinking.

"What the hell?" This was the only think she could say about this.

She continued down the creepy cave-like mine, only to see an old, dirty sign up ahead just behind a rusted ladder. She walked closer to the sign to see words printed boldly in red.

 _Blackwood Mines_

 _This area of the mine has recently suffered structural collapse_

 _Please contact foreman: H. Tanner_

 _Refer to map: 4C-8 for more details_

Emily's eyes went wider than saucers at reading this. She had several questions running through her head that she could barely keep her head together. How did the mine collapse? When did the mine collapse? Did these miners make it out safe? Were there any miners in this place? Did any of the miners survive?

Emily wasn't sure, but it ached her to think that this sudden collapse happened and there was no telling of any survivors. This place was certainly creepier than she thought.

Shuddering, she turned away from the sign then decided that it would be best to climb up the ladder, though she was worried it would be too old to hold her weight. Taking a deep breath, she slowly climbed up the ladder, keeping a tight grip on her torch with her left hand.

Before she could make it to the upper level, the ladder gave way as it toppled over, nearly falling on her, but she quickly moved out before she could potentially be crushed. She screamed as she slid down a hill before dropping to the ground, the landing hurt a bit. She groaned as she got back to her feet. Much to her horror, she noticed that she didn't have her torch with her. It occurred to her that she must've lost it while she fell from the ladder.

The raven-haired woman realized that she had no choice but to use her phone for any source of light. The thought frustrated her, knowing that it wasn't the smartest idea, but she knew that trying to maneuver through the mine in the dark was the last thing she wanted to think about.

Sighing, she pulled out her phone from her pocket, hoping for when she turned on the light, she would just see the huge rock wall. When she turned on the light of her phone, she was instead greeted by several skeleton heads that looked old and dirty, staring directly at her, at least that was how she perceived it. The sight of them made her sick to her stomach and she screamed, turning away in disgust.

"Gross!" she gagged.

She was determined to get away from this place as she continued forward, still using her phone as her light source because she was sure she lost her torch earlier.

Another strange sound could be heard, causing her to jump in surprise. Her mind was racing, and her heart hammered in her chest, but she knew that she had to go on.

She noticed an area that seemed to be blocked by planks of wood. She sighed before pushing through the planks before it broke, allowing for her to enter the area. To her, it felt like this cave was endless and the thought made her shudder again.

She continued to walk down the dark cave, still using her phone as her best source of light to look around to either find anything interesting, to find Matt's whereabouts, or to get out of there. She noticed something further ahead, deciding to investigate what it was. All it was to be was a piece of something, like that came out of a ladder, making her ponder a bit about this.

The young woman turned away from it, still trying to find a way out or at least to find Matt. She noticed something on the ground and decided to investigate it. It turned out to be a miner's helmet. She shuddered again.

"Really weird," she said nervously before turning away from it.

She walked around the place, still shining her phone light around the place and still creeped out by this place.

Up ahead, she noticed another chest, somewhat convinced that this wasn't the same one that she came across earlier. She opened the chest, noticing something in it.

She took a closer look in the chest to see that it appeared to be a photo. She picked up the photo to see that it showed a man, a woman, and a girl. To her, they seemed to be a nuclear family and by the looks of it, the man looked to be the miner.

Seeing this family photo made her sad, remembering the fun pictures of her with the twins before they disappeared. Before things changed dramatically all because of a prank started by Jess, though the raven-haired woman felt sorry for hurting the twins like this.

Emily returned her focus to the photo, turning it over to the back to see a neatly handwritten note in what appeared to be black ink.

 _Dearest Billy,_

 _Hurry home safety to your loving wife and daughter,_

 _Love Louise_

Emily couldn't help but feel bad for this Louise person who wrote this little note. By the looks of it, it was obvious that the wife and the daughter were worried and missing their husband/father.

Sadly sighing, the raven-haired woman put the photo down then noticed a rock wall that she could climb. Remembering the slight pain on her knee, she was careful to climb up the wall without hurting herself any further. She found herself successful with climbing up this rock wall.

Further up, she saw a ladder that she could climb up, which she was more than pleased about. She climbed up the ladder then made it to the top without issues.

Ahead, she saw what appeared to be like a bridge. She walked across it, hearing a bit a creaking which worried her. She was about to get herself paranoid about this, but she made it across with full success.

Unfortunately, her little victory was rudely interrupted when she heard a beeping sound. A horrible thought rang in her head as she checked her phone battery, her fears were confirmed. Her phone battery was out, at the worst possible time. She knew that now; she was forced to walk in this darkness without any other sources of light.

"Shit!" she hissed.

She put her phone in her pocket then continued forward, only to notice something unsettlingly familiar about this area. She saw the mine elevator, the clock-in machine, and lightened torch she lit with her own torch earlier when she had it. She realized that she was back to the area where she was before. She didn't know whether to laugh or to groan at the thought of coming back to this area, so she kept silent for her own sake.

She noticed something dead ahead on the ground and wondered what it could be, and it looked like there was fire too. She took a closer look, only to sigh in relief when it was the torch she made earlier. Picking it up, it felt good for her to have any source of light at all again, especially given the situation when her only remaining source of light decided to die on her.

She noticed a panel close to her, so she walked closer to it, seeing a switch that looked like it had to be pulled at least for her to try to see if it worked. She pulled the switch, seeing the lights turn on around the area, which she couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Finally, something works."

The young woman didn't say anymore as she walked away from the panel. She headed downstairs, noticing a bottle with what appeared to be a pebble near a fenced area. This confused her, wondering why someone would leave this here.

Brushing it off, she turned away from the fence then walked down the path, the area still giving her the creeps. She eventually found herself in a cave-like area, this area feeling creepier to her than other areas she explored. She looked up to see a large opening and seeing white, which she figured out to be snow. She was sure that this was outside, and she couldn't be more relieved than she already was.

"Yes!" she cheered to herself.

She tried to climb up the rock wall that was part of the cave. Unfortunately, she found the rock to be very slippery because some ice had gotten onto the rock. She ended up sliding down the wall, realizing that climbing would be impossible.

She walked away from the wall, hoping for another way out that wasn't so difficult or to find Matt safe and sound.

Instead, she found something else entirely. On the ground, she noticed it was a pair of glasses. She walked closer to them then knelt, seeing the jet-black color and the horned-rimmed look to them. She remembered them all too well and there was only one person she knew who wore these glasses.

"Hannah?"

This rung questions for the raven-haired woman. Was Hannah down here? Why are her glasses here?

Emily couldn't piece it together about this. She stood up then continued her journey in this creepy ass mine. Her thoughts about the older twin ran wildly in her head that she barely paid attention to where she was going, only to be caught by surprise when she bumped into an old, rusted barrel.

"Fuck!" she hissed.

She was about to turn away when she saw what appeared to be a photo on the barrel. She picked it up to see that it was a photo of Hannah wearing a tank top, showing her black-inked butterfly tattoo. Emily was puzzled as to why this photo ended up down here, but she turned the photo to the back, seeing a neatly handwritten note in ink.

 _When are you getting yours, Beth? :)_

Emily remembered Hannah's tattoo very well. It was some kind of cherished prize Hannah would show off to a lot of her friends.

The raven-haired woman placed the photo back on the barrel then continued down the dark cave. She kept a tight grip on her torch, shining it all over her surroundings.

She suddenly stumbled upon a sign that read: _DANGER_.

"Great," she grumbled. "Danger is my middle fucking name."

She turned away from the sign then continued her journey down the mine. The longer she stayed here, the creepier it felt. It wasn't like someone pulled a nasty prank that led her down here because as far as she was concerned, there were no pranks here. Instead, she was chased down by a fucking maniac and ended up down here, separated from Matt. She laughed humorlessly at the thought, though stopped laughing because at that point, she was sure that she might have caught someone's attention.

She saw a wooden fence that appeared to be blocking something. Thinking that there was something important behind it, she moved it to see a date carved on the rock that was all too familiar to her.

 _02 • 02 • 14_

"That was exactly one year ago," she said, surprised to see it.

Below it, she saw tally marks that were carved on the rock. This had to mean something to her. It wasn't like the twins disappeared somewhere in the forest or something. This marked carving had to mean that the twins ended up here, and one of them carved the date, plus these tally marks. Something in the back of her mind told her that this might've been a sign of how long the twins had been here and were somehow unable to leave the mine, had they fallen here.

Shuddering at the thought, the young woman continued her journey then turned to her right, noticing some wood in a cross-like shape. She picked it up, seeing that the shape of it was indeed a cross, but there was more to come. There appeared to be writing that looked to be in white.

 _Beth 2 • 02 • 14_

The young woman shivered at the sight of it, horrible thoughts running through her head like a race car.

"Beth..." she gasped. "Oh Jesus."

She put the cross down, now questions running through her head as to why that cross was there and why it was made. Did Beth die from the fall? If Beth got her cross, where was Hannah? Why didn't Hannah get a cross with her date of death? Was Hannah not dead or something?

Emily shook her head at these thoughts, trying to think of them as false assumptions. She didn't want to freak herself out any more than how much she was already freaked out.

The sound of what sounded like a flamethrower cued up, startling her with quite some surprise. She didn't know where it came from, nor did she know if she was actually alone or not.

She walked towards another rusted barrel; this one was not the same from the other barrel she bumped into before she saw Hannah's tattoo picture. She saw a gold chain with a heart, looking very much to be like a locket. She opened the locket to see what was in the locket and her heart hammered in her chest again.

On the left side, there was carved writing that said: _To Hannah with love_.

On the right side of the locket, there was a picture of the twins with small but noticeable smiles on their faces. Hannah was wearing her glasses while Beth had on her beanie, looking like it was the same beanie she wore the night of the prank. By the looks of it, it had to be Hannah's locket.

The raven-haired woman was shocked to say the least, wondering how Hannah's locket ended up down here. After a moment of deep thinking, a horrible thought rang in her head, this one being that she was sure of it.

Hannah must be alive still, she thought.

She shuddered before putting the locket back on the barrel then walked, finding it hard to entertain the notion that Hannah could still be alive. If Hannah really was still alive, Emily would be shocked to say the least, given that it had been one year since the twins disappeared.

Emily came across a door that was blocking her way. Sighing, she moved it out of the way so that she could pass.

She continued forward, still shining her torch in her surroundings. Up ahead, she saw what looked to be a body sitting against the rock wall. Her aching curiosity told her that she should check it out, so she walked towards the body then tried to move the head which looked to have on a beanie, particularly Beth's beanie. Much to her horror, the head fell to face Emily and the sight almost made her sick to her stomach, the familiarity of it punching her square in the chest.

"Oh god, oh god Beth no, oh god Beth no!" gasped Emily.

It was indeed Beth's head, however, there was so much wrong with it. Beth's head looked dirty, scratched, bruised and rotten, probably from the combination of the fall and being stuck here. Her eyes looked like they were fully rolled to the back of her head, but not quite there yet. Her hair even appeared to be dirty and losing its vibrant brown color. She was wearing a jacket, but when Emily took a closer look, there was no actual body. It was just Beth's head. It was a horrifying sight to say the least.

At that point, Emily made a clear assumption that scared her and grief-stricken her. Beth was dead and did die from the fall. Hannah on the other hand, might as well be still alive. Emily couldn't understand why Beth's head was here, but not her body. Something was wasn't exactly adding up.

Emily turned away from the head then walked forward down the cave. Noticing a door up ahead, she hoped this would lead to somewhere good. She opened the door with success then found herself to be back in the mineshaft where she was the past two times she was here. She was relieved to say the least.

Remembering the mine elevator she saw earlier, she walked towards it to see a switch that she figured she had to pull. She pulled the switch in the elevator and the elevator was going up, much to her relief.

"Come on, let's go!" she urged, getting impatient.

After going up to the next level, the elevator stopped, much her dismay.

"No," she groaned as she got out of the elevator.

She got out of the elevator and was about turn to head forward, but she jumped when she saw a figure clad in a coat, holding a weapon in his arms. He had goggles on and a bandana over the bottom half of his face. If this was the maniac that Chris and Ashley saw earlier, she was certain that they would both win in this situation.

The raven-haired woman quickly turned back to hide by the wood, muffling her breaths so that the figure wouldn't catch her attention. She stood as still as possible, refusing to give away her position.

"Oh god, please don't come this way," she whispered, shuddering.

After staying still for about ten seconds, she ran out of her hiding spot to get away from this maniac that was trying to catch her.

"Get back here!"

The young woman had a bad feeling that it was the maniac who said that. That confirmed her fear that he somehow found his way down here and was now after her. She ran as fast as she could, along the way jumping over a dock-like bridge then found herself in a more closed in cave. She took notice of a patch of oil on the ground, thankful that she didn't slip on it. She had to think fast if she wanted to not be caught.

She could drop her torch on the ground to catch the maniac off guard as to not follow her. However, she had a thought that the maniac might be smarter than she realized, seeing more than enough horror movies that maybe, she shouldn't take her chances. Deciding to keep her torch, she ran off down the cave.

She was met with a dead end, there being a gate that she had to open. She tried to open it, but to no avail. It was locked.

She didn't want to check behind her to see if the maniac was still behind her. So, she took it safe and hid in between two walls of wood, keeping as quiet as possible and staying as still as possible. She had no desire to give away her position to this maniac who was chasing her.

She could see that the maniac was getting closer and closer to her. This made her want to stay still and keep quiet that much more. She closed her eyes for a few moments, wishing this was just a bad dream about everything she came across.

"Hmph!"

Emily opened her eyes when she heard the grunt and much to her horror, the maniac stood there right by where she was hiding, appearing to be staring directly at her. She was now certain that after this, she would be dead, killed by the maniac before she even got a chance to get out of here and find Matt. This was it.


	29. His Explanation

"Josh?" gasped Chris, eyes wide with horror.

The man in question let out a maniacal laugh, amused by his own game that he put out for his friends. The others though didn't laugh along with him, being too shocked to even let out a laugh at the idea that their friend had actually put out heinous acts against them.

"Josh!" cried Sam, her eyes wide with horror.

Josh was still laughing, circling around the group. Mike and Ashley shook their heads in disbelief. Mike because now it gave a horrible thought that the other man had done something horrible to Jess. Ashley because she couldn't believe Josh actually had plotted a plan that nearly would've gotten her or Chris killed and that had her almost thinking that Josh actually died. She couldn't believe that she even stabbed him and not even knowing it was him.

"Josh," grumbled Mike in disbelief.

Billie just stood there in silent horror, realizing that the guy she took trust in had gone off and played this psycho who tortured her on the table and stabbed her on the shoulder. She noticed that Josh had a similar wound on him that she had. She began to think that there had to be a meaning behind it.

"Oh, oh, oh, very good!" chuckled Josh, the smile on his face was wide but the others found it off putting. "Every one of you, you got my name. And after all you've been through. Good, good, good, good, I mean, how does that feel? Right? How does it feel?"

He laughed again, louder this time; his laugh though sounded as if out of mockery over his friends' terror rather than just some harmless fun type. He was sure that this was the way to teach them a lesson after his sisters' disappearance last year. Well, he initially never wanted Billie to be a part of his own scheme, but because she managed to find her way in it, he had to go along and improvise, pulling her as a part of his revenge. He didn't care that no one was smiling at all, let alone laughing.

Mike and Sam rolled their eyes at him as they went free Chris and Ashley. Sam freed Ashley while Mike freed Chris.

"Do you enjoy feeling terrorized, humiliated, I mean, panicked?" asked Josh, his voice was surely that of making mockery over watching his friends suffer mentally. "All those emotions my sisters got to feel once one year ago? Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off. Nope, no, no, no. They're gone!"

No one laughed at his words, too shocked about his actions. They were now convinced that he was the one behind their mental torments and the air around them grew cold.

"I don't know if you noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing," said Mike bluntly, gesturing to his shaken friends.

Josh didn't acknowledge this, instead still circling around his friends with a big, maniacal-like smile on his face. Everyone shivered at his smile.

"Oh, come, come, come on, why the long faces?" asked Josh in a mocking-like coo. "It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right?"

Everyone shook their heads, completely disagreeing with him. What surprised him was that from the corner of his eye, even Billie seemed to refuse to take his side, the same girl who he had a crush on. He felt betrayed that this pretty girl wouldn't see where he was coming from and why he did this.

Billie on the other hand felt betrayed that the same man who she took somewhat notice that he had a crush on her and who she leaned on for support, ended up paying her back with a wound on her shoulder. Before that, he chased her around the lodge with a needle. It wasn't so much that she disliked him, it was more that she was afraid of him, afraid to get too close to him for fear that he would do it again.

"And race, they did," continued Josh, proudly remembering everything he pieced together for his scheme. "I hope you enjoyed my little phantasmagorical spectacle. I mean, not detail too small! No opportunity missed! It was such a delight to play the puppet master, to all of your Pavlovian panic! And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore. fake bodies! God, that shit was expensive! And no retakes. Nope, only double takes. You should have seen your faces. Hook line sinker for every little stinker!"

For a moment, no one spoke, too stunned to learn the news of Josh's planned out scheme that tortured them. They swallowed hard, trying to take time to allow the gravity of the situation sink in. Chris and Ashley were horrified that Josh was the one to create these experiments to scare them nearly to death. Mike and Sam were shocked that Josh not only tied up Sam and in Mike's mind, assumed that Josh killed Jess, but they were also shocked to learn that what Billie told them was true. They first turned to the wound on Billie then looked at the wound on Josh and saw they were uncannily similar. Josh was certainly creating some kind of sick game and he confirmed it.

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Billie who spoke, with clear shock and betrayal in her tone.

"Josh, of course you put your finger prints all over this one, no surprise it was you."

Josh turned to her, surprised that she figured this out without taking much part in the prank. She shook her head at him, taking a step back from him. Much to her horror, he took a few steps closer to her. Everyone gasped, wondering if he was going to do something to her.

"And what's that?" he asked.

"If this is your way of trying to call for help over your grief, you're doing an absolute shit job," said Billie in a brutal honest tone, backing away from Josh, but he kept getting closer to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm doing a terrible job because my crush Billie told me so," taunted Josh. "You want me to do better? I'll give you something else."

"Josh, I don't think you're getting the severity of the situation," snapped Billie, her tone was hard but almost shaking, her eyes full of shock. "It's one thing to be grief-stricken over losing anyone you love. It's a whole different thing to use it as a plot of sickening revenge. Hell, I lost my mother in this damn mountain two years ago but even I wouldn't go to these lengths!"

Josh's mouth hung open in shock, the stern tone in the girl's voice was something he wasn't expecting to hear coming. However, he wasn't convinced that she was right. He was certain that he accomplished his mission, though was forced to improvise after Billie got involved somehow.

"Come on, Billie," he said, replacing his shock with mocking exasperation. "You seriously got a little bit of egg on your face. You're gonna thank me when we become internet sensations."

The area around him and everyone else grew silent for the longest moment. Billie, Mike, Sam, Chris, and Ashley took this moment to let what Josh said sink in. Did Josh really want to record their mental torments to share on the internet? Their mouths and eyes went wide with shock and horror.

"What?" Was all they could say.

"Oh,

"What are you talking about you ass hat?" snapped Mike, his voice etched with anger and grief. "Jessica is fucking dead!"

No one spoke for another long moment. Josh stood there silently, feeling a crumpling weight push him down the ground at hearing this. The others didn't hide their expressions of horror and grief and wondered if any of them would go to comfort Mike who was obviously upset.

"You heard me," said Mike severely. "Jessica is dead."

He took a deep breath, eyes directed at the older man. He was going to make himself clear.

"And you're gonna fucking pay, you dick!" he shouted, hitting Josh in the head, knocking the latter out while the former stood there.

He turned to Chris, the blonde nodding to him with an idea in mind for Josh. They found a plastic tie lying on the floor then began to tie Josh's wrists with the tie, almost as if they were going to handcuff him.

"The three of you can stay behind while we tie this asshole up," instructed Mike to the girls, voice still drenched with grief.

The girls nodded, neither of them wanting to join the guys. They turned to each other just when the guys left. Ashley took notice of the wound Billie had and gasped in horror.

"Billie, what happened there?" she asked, concerned for her friend.

Billie could barely muster the courage to speak. The horrible memory of the psycho's actions to her replayed aggressively in her head. The fact that it was Josh, the very guy who seemed to have a crush on her made it that much more horrifying.

"The psycho," she sobbed, sitting down on the ground then hugged her knees close to her chest. "He stabbed me with a pair of scissors."

The redhead was horrified to learn this and seeing the way her friend seemed while answering her question showed how close to broken she was. Ashley was sure that Billie seemed like a strong person, even in her worst moments. She couldn't believe that a guy who liked her would go off and do something like that.

"I'm so sorry, Billie," she said sadly. "It must've been the same scissors I used when I stabbed him."

The raven-haired girl nodded but didn't speak. She was almost traumatized by the events she went through and after trying to knock some sense into Josh, he disregarded her words and noticing how off his mind he was, she found herself barely able to take another step closer to him without even thinking about what she suffered earlier. All this time, she thought he kept his open arms to her, only to strip it away from her and then, he managed to mentally torment her by chasing her in the lodge then torturing her after she found the clues in the psycho's workshop. It was all too much for her to try to keep a brave face.

Ashley, who was freed, wrapped her arms around her friend to comfort her and Sam did the same. They were beginning to wonder if Billie was going to have enough courage to survive the rest of the night, given her reactions from the reveal earlier. However, the redhead and the blonde were surprised when Billie spoke again, but this time, she didn't hide the shakiness in her voice.

"I don't hate Josh. I think I'm afraid of him."


	30. Two-On-One Interrogation

"Guys! Guys, come on, serious, this is crazy, you know?" complained Josh as he was shoved forward by Mike.

"Shut up," said Mike bluntly.

After learning the horrifying truth of Josh's actions, Mike and Chris had devised a plan to tie him up somewhere the shed where Chris was earlier when he was looking for Ashley. They weren't going to allow who they considered a psychopath near their turf to put anyone else in danger.

Chris especially was angry with Josh after everything he heard which was more than enough. Though he never watched the specific action, he remembered waking up and seeing Ashley with a black eye. She made it clear with him that she was positive that Josh hit her when he was strolling around behind that ugly mask.

"Why'd ya hit her man?" he fumed. "Why'd you have to fucking hit her?"

In a hard, swift fashion, his fist made a hard-impacting hit to Josh on the latter's face. Chris had never felt so angry over his now former best friend before, but this proved to be the icing on the cake. Deep down in his chest, trusting Josh was nothing more than a near-fatal mistake.

Josh on the other hand yelped from the hit, now utterly confused. He heard the angry tone in his friend's voice, but he still was sure that what he did was proper payback from last year. He wasn't going to allow anyone to mess with his sisters the way that these so-called "friends" did.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You punched Ashley, you piece of shit!" yelled Chris, still angry.

Silence fell between the three young men for a moment.

"I got so mad," admitted Josh.

Chris shook his head in complete disagreement. He refused to justify Josh's actions; from possibly hurting Jess, to hitting Ashley, to capturing Sam, and possibly even to torturing Billie. He was watching some of his female friends become victims of the man who he thought was his friend, yet Josh seemed to barely show any remorse, if any at all.

"You don't hit a girl," stated Chris. "You just don't."

"Dude, dude, Chris, bro," began Josh, more in an attempt to dodge the statement.

"I'm not your bro," snapped Chris.

He and Mike pushed Josh forward again, trying to get him to move so that they could tie him in the shed. After all was said and done, Josh wouldn't be able to hurt anyone until any helped arrived, Chris assuming if Matt and Emily had managed to contact anyone for help.

"Where are we going?" wondered Josh in a panicked tone. "Where are you guys taking me?"

"Locking you up, bro," answered Mike.

"What?" Josh was shocked, barely aware that this was happening in his own damn mountain.

"You can't do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning," said Mike in a brutally honest tone.

"Come on!" protested Josh "I didn't do anything-"

"Are you serious, bro?" interrupted Chris, shuddering.

"You're a goddamn murderer is what you are," commented Mike with evident anger and grief in his voice.

"I didn't do it." Josh shook his head, more than positive that he never murdered anyone at all, let alone Jess. "Michael, please! Just listen to me, man. I did not hurt Jessica- "

"You know, man?" interrupted Chris, already tired of hearing Josh's nonsensical rambling. "You need to shut up."

He and Mike continued to push Josh closer to the shed, their minds focused on tying up Josh. Not a single word was spoken for a long while, especially from Josh, much to the relief of Chris and Mike. Unfortunately, the blonde man and the nineteen-year old dark-haired man would learn their moment of peace would come to an end when they pushed Josh in front of the shed.

"You only see what you wanna see!" said Josh. "You're blind!"

"Stop talking!" shouted Mike.

Without hesitation, he pushed Josh down to the ground hard, urging him to hurry up. As far as Mike was concerned, he wanted to make sure that the rest of his friends were safe from this... murderer. He wasn't about to wait all night to get Josh to the shed in hope that the latter wouldn't escape.

"You are-" began Josh. He cried out as Mike shoved him down in a submission-like hold, which Mike refused to let go.

"Dude." Chris sounded exasperated.

"It's not my fault you suckers can't take a joke," complained Josh.

Neither teen had a response for the twenty-year old nor did they want to respond. The brunette teen tightened his hold on Josh.

"Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you?" he mocked, though the tone in his voice was hard. "Did you just feel a little... little bit of pain? Right now, I am so, so sorry."

Josh let out a scream of pain as he felt the pressure of Mike keeping hold on him.

"Stop it!" yelled Josh

"Jesus, dude." Chris shook his head.

Mike pulled Josh up to his knees, still angry with the latter.

"Stop." said Josh, though he could tell that Mike was still angry through his actions. "Michael, I'm sorry man. I can't tell you how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica but I swear, I swear to you I have no idea what happened to her."

Silence fell between the three men, Mike and Chris though took a long moment to ponder this. Neither teen could grasp the idea of trusting the older man after his heinous actions to the others. From attacking Sam, to stalking Chris and Ashley, to chasing then torturing Billie, to being a suspect for the possible murder of Jess, it was too much to allow to sink in.

Chris shook his head again, refusing to fall for Josh's apology. The former had already been tortured enough, and then to see his friends' tainted blood on his hands was enough to tell him that trusting the latter would be a huge mistake.

"Josh, do you really expect us to trust you after all the shit you put us through?" he snapped.

"Can't we all just get along?" asked Josh, completely ignoring the blonde's question and the tone of his voice was starting to sound more crazed.

Mike shook his head, completely dodging the words from the crazed man in front of him. The thoughts of Josh hurting his friends sent an unnerving chill down Mike's spine, enough to tell him that he couldn't trust the twenty-year old. Without a form of hesitation, he made Josh stand up on his own feet.

"Ow!" yelled Josh. "Dammit!"

Mike pointed the blank-infested gun to Josh's neck, still angry.

"We're not dicking around," he fumed.

He let Josh go but he and Chris still tried to get Josh to lead the way to the shed. Mike had been fueled by grief-stricken rage that he had almost forgotten how bitterly cold it was out here, not that he cared much about how cold it was.

"It's not right, nope," said Josh. "This is not how it's supposed to go down."

Mike and Chris continued to push him until he was on his own again. However, he stopped midway then turned to them.

"You're just a bunch of bullies," he complained. "You can't hand out a guy just to dry like this, guys, huh? Not like... not like you got the nuts to really do anything about it anyways!"

Mike pushed Josh again, shaking his head.

"Oh stuff it, you're the biggest coward there is," commented Chris bluntly.

"Uh huh?" said Josh. "I did something. I made you believe in the world I created, and I showed you parts of yourself you were too afraid to visit."

"You manipulated us, you tricked us, you hurt your friends and you did it all while you hid in the shadows," snapped Chris, still angry with his now former best friend. "You're a coward Josh, that's all you are."

Mike first turned to Chris, nodding to him in agreement then he turned his attention back to Josh. He shoved Josh to a wooden pole and there was a wooden stool in front of it. He made him sit so that he and Chris could tie him up there and leave him there for the police to easily find him.

"Okay, tying me up now, okay," sighed Josh.

"Stay still, man!" said Mike.

"Right, right right right, still," mocked Josh. "Can't tie 'em up if they just wiggle around." He tried to wiggle around in his seat to get out of Chris and Mike's grip, but they acted fast to make sure he didn't escape.

"Josh, dude," groaned Chris.

"Leave me a little wiggle room, huh?" laughed Josh.

"What does it take to shut you up?" groaned Mike, already sick of Josh's maniacal bullshit as he tried to tie the latter up to the pole.

"Ow!" cried Josh. "Not so tight, okay? Not so right, okay?"

After struggling to tie up Josh, Chris successfully tied him up, then made sure to double check he was actually tied up and not in an attempt to escape. After checking, he was satisfied as he went to join Mike, both teens were a few feet away from the tied-up man.

"I can't wiggle around," muttered Josh in a maniacal manner. "Plastic toes. That's where it's at. Yeah."

Mike and Chris shook their heads at seeing the crazed twenty-year old mumble a bunch of unknown nonsense. They found it incredibly hard to watch and they couldn't imagine if any of the girls back at the old hotel came to see this happening.

"What in god's name is he talking about?" wondered Mike to Chris, shaking his head.

"Plastic ties. Plastic ties. Way more effective for hostage type scenarios," continued Josh, paying no attention to the teens.

"This is hard to watch," admitted Chris to Mike.

Mike nodded in agreement as the sight of Josh seemingly completely detached from reality sent a chill down his spine. As far as he was concerned, Mike watching Josh in this state of mind was almost as scary to him as the sight of Jess lying on the elevator, injured and weak.

"He ever say this kind of shit before?" he asked nervously.

"Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back!" mocked Josh

"No, I never see him like this," replied Chris to Mike.

Mike couldn't help but feel sorry for Chris having to watch his friend completely on the brink of insanity. He silently nodded to Chris, acknowledging and taking his word when they were interrupted by maniacal laughter. They turned to Josh, who was slowly turning his gaze to the teens.

"Everybody is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," grumbled Josh, though his tone was slowly becoming more of a mocking tone. "Chris and Ash. Chris is an ass, Ashley's a dumb dumb."

Mike and Chris widened their eyes in shock as they were quick to figure out that Josh was mocking Chris and Ashley's relationship. The thought wasn't sitting well with the teens.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" asked Chris, shuddering.

"Well I said you're a dummy, dummy," chuckled Josh.

"What is wrong with you?" wondered Chris.

"Oh Ashley," mocked Josh, the vivid memory of what happened at the first saw blade trap earlier.

"Ashley! I'll get you out, I won't let you die!" he remembered Chris cry out to Ashley who was sobbing in the background.

He returned his gaze to the blonde, feeling almost beyond betrayed. Here was his best friend, choosing to save his potential girlfriend instead of his own best friend. However, Josh wasn't finished with Chris.

"I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you liked me!" he mocked.

"Stop." grumbled Chris.

Josh didn't, and instead made kissing sounds, once again in attempt to mock Chris and Ashley's relationship.

"You know what that sound is?" asked Josh mockingly. "It's the sound of never kissing Ashley, you pussy!"

"Stop!" shouted Chris

From the corner of his eye, he saw a bat lying on the ground. He quickly picked it up, intending to hit Josh with it to shut him up. However, much to the Chris and even Mike's dismay, Josh wasn't finished talking, and he still held his gaze to Chris.

"Yeah, you know?" said Josh. "You might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike. I mean, at least he's got some notches on his belt, you know? He'll treat her right! You're fucking pathetic, Christopher!"

"I'm gonna beat his head off," said Chris, shaking his head at Josh's words and had the bat in position to hit the twenty-year old.

"Don't listen to him," said Mike to Chris, trying to hold him back. "Not worth it."

Josh turned his gaze to the brunette, now full of curiosity when he remembered the latter accusing him of killing Jess. However, Mike wasn't looking at him, so Josh opted to call his name to catch his attention, at least to get his question answered.

"Hey Mike," called Josh. "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike."

Mike turned to him, irritated that now, he was the one being called by Josh. He had no idea what was about to be in store for him.

"Mike!" said Josh again.

"What?" asked Mike, his tone was annoyed and etched with agony.

"What happened with Jess, Mike?" asked Josh.

Mike's face almost crumpled when he remembered seeing the scary state of his girlfriend that scared him to death. However, he kept the angry expression on his face, but there was agony written in his eyes.

"You know what happened," he said quietly, refusing to specify what, as the thought punched him in the chest, leaving a gaping wound.

"No, no, I don't," said Josh. "I got a problem, Mike. I don't remember killing Jess."

"Christ," muttered Mike, turning away.

"I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?" continued Josh. "She's so soft, and she's probably got like a really tight bod."

Hearing these words was enough for Mike to almost snap at Josh. Mike was fuming after spending his own time stuck in his own grief that he pointed the blank-infested gun to Josh.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" he scolded.

Josh though wasn't done talking, even through his sick mind, his thoughts shifted to the girl he liked. He remembered watching the raven-haired girl walking up to him with eyes seemingly full of life.

"But wait!" he said, now holding his gaze at the teens.

Mike and Chris lowered their weapons by a sliver, now wondering what Josh had on his mind. Neither one seemed to like where this was going, and it only looked to be getting worse from here. Neither one spoke, only giving angry glares at the crazed young man.

"And then there's the girl I can't stop thinking about, Billie," cooed Josh. "She's a special one, isn't she? I showed her that she was special earlier. Isn't she lovely?"

Mike and Chris were furious, realizing that there seemed to be a pattern going on. Josh taunted Chris for a crush on Ashley and then taunted Mike's care for Jessica. Now, Josh was laughing over his actions to Billie.

"Josh," fumed Mike. "I think you're the last person she wants to see right now."

Josh's face fell by a sliver, wondering why Mike would say such a thing. He leaned his gaze towards Mike.

"Why would you say that?" he asked.

"It's bad enough that you possibly killed Jess, taunted me and Ashley, and then attacked Sam," said Chris, his voice turning hard and frustrated. "And then on top of that, you tortured Billie? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"I'm me, Chris," laughed Josh. "And Bill's fine. She liked my gift I gave her on her shoulder."

"Josh, you stabbed her on the shoulder," fumed Mike. "And we heard her scream in pain. That's not even close to a gift. What did she ever do to you to make you do that her? And besides, she's afraid of you now."

Josh paled when he heard "she's afraid of you now" and he wasn't sure if he was going to faint or completely lose his temper. Billie was certainly the girl of his dreams, but to hear Mike say this angered him. He was going to make sure that when he would get out of this tie and see Billie again, he would do everything to make sure she wasn't afraid of him and that she could trust him.

"You should've brought her over and I'll show you how I can give Billie something real good," said Josh, a mischievous look was evident in his eyes.

Mike was beyond angry at the young man as he once again pointed the gun at him. However, Chris noticed what Mike's intentions were about to be, so he tried to diffuse the tension by hitting Mike to disarm him, causing the gun to fall out of Mike's hand. Mike yelped out in surprise before turning to Chris, a look of confusion was shown on his face.

"Seriously?" said Mike.

"What?" wondered Chris

"Did you think I was going to shoot him?" asked Mike.

Chris was stumped for words for a moment.

"I-I dunno," he replied meekly.

"Come on, Chris, you know me better than that," groaned Mike.

"Yeah Chris. You know me better than that," mocked Josh, chuckling.

"Ah, yeah," said Chris to Mike, ignoring Josh. "Well, just next time, give me a heads up, alright?"

"Oh you poor little piggies," cooed Josh mockingly. "Can't even get their good cop bad cop routine to work. Leave it to the pros, bros!"

"Why don't you go back to the lodge and make sure everyone's alright," suggested Mike to Chris. "I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning." He gestured to Josh.

"Oooh! Sleepover," said Josh, seemingly excited like a child. "C-can we order pizza?"

Once again, Mike and Chris ignored Josh, still keeping eye contact with each other.

"You sure you're okay?" asked Chris to Mike.

"They'll want to know everything's fine back there," insisted Mike in a voice that was quiet but firm.

"You're right," agreed Chris, nodding. "See you in the morning."

He dropped the bat then turned around to head back to the lodge in the bitter cold, leaving Mike and Josh at the shed.

Mike on the hand let out a heavy sigh, wondering how he would handle staying in the shed with the crazed, possible murderer in the same area as him. The weight of everything that happened in the past few hours since he and Jess were interrupted at the cabin was sinking down on him. He shivered, but he wasn't sure if it was because of everything that happened that was getting to him or if it was the bitter cold, though he decided that it was a mix of both.

Standing here with Josh was not what Mike had in mind on this getaway, but he told himself he couldn't dwell on the unexpected, but instead make sure to stay alive and make sure Josh didn't try anything. At that moment, Mike was preparing himself for the long rest of the night ahead of him.


End file.
